Macheda provides the magic as title battle now destined to be red all over

SO NEVER mind last night; surely it couldn’t have topped last weekend’s thrillfest double-header in London and Manchester? That was precisely the kind of possibility I had in mind a couple of months ago, when I slightly masochistically suggested that we should all enjoy seeing this race go Red v Red until the breathless death.

Now, it’s one of the unwritten rules amongst English football hacks who deal with each other that you should rarely indulge in “fan banter” together. Something to do with being professional, objective and all that other guff.

But I couldn’t blame one of my pals from a Sunday paper who’s a lifelong Liverpool fan for ringing me from the Cottage press box at full-time to yell uncontrollably: “Now it’s on! Now we’ll see what ye’re made of!”