Steven Gerrard was six years old in November 1986 when he stood on the Anfield terraces and watched Jan Molby fire three penalties past Coventry City in the League Cup fourth round.

On Sunday, almost 28 years later, the Scouser came within a whisker of repeating the feat against Liverpool's great rivals, Manchester United, at Old Trafford.

Gerrard hit two successful spot-kicks en route to a stunning 3-0 win against the reigning champions, sending David De Gea in the wrong direction for his first before sweeping low to double the deficit.

When Mark Clattenburg pointed to the spot for a third time, the 33-year-old had the chance to emulate what he watched with his dad on his first Anfield visit; however, the post denied him.

The damage had already been done, though, and after Luis Suarez curled home the third, the rout over United was completed in fittingly emphatic fashion.

Afterwards, Gerrard told BBC Sport: "Jan's hat-trick was the first ever game that I went to see. My dad took me. It was against Coventry and it finished 3-1. Jan got three penalties.

"But Jan's a better penalty taker than me. Unfortunately I couldn't match him. I was confident I was going to score it but I was very pleased I got the two important ones.

"The important thing was the three points and the performance was good and we got the win. We've maintained our excellent form and I think from the goalkeeper through to Luis and Sturridge today, everyone was magnificent.

"The manager told us the truth, which was that we needed to improve, from front to back. We kept a clean-sheet today and we kept a clean-sheet at Southampton.

"We're on the right track. They're the sort of performances and the solidarity that we need if we're going to challenge for the league."

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