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The relegation which has been Burnley’s destiny since Owen Coyle left in January was finally confirmed today when Steven Gerrard scored twice in the space of seven second-half minutes to keep alive Liverpool’s hopes of Champions League qualification.

If Gerrard’s first was something of a fluke (the shot took a big deflection), the second was more typical, thrashed past Brian Jensen’s left hand from 25 yards. Liverpool’s third took the form of a smart finish by Maxi Rodriguez and the fourth came in added time, from Ryan Babel.

The rain pelted down shortly before kick-off – the sky crying in sympathy with Burnley’s plight and driving off the cricketers on the pitch next door, where England’s Jimmy Anderson learned his trade. These things are relative, and it has been a poor season for Liverpool, too, but still the scouse loyalists pledge vocal loyalty to the manager, Rafael Benítez, who continues to be linked with Juventus.

With Fernando Torres and David Ngog both injured, Dirk Kuyt reverted to the role in which he was originally signed, as principal striker. He was found wanting there a long time ago, and was once again here.

The standard of play rarely rose above the prosaic, and the first goal attempt of any consequence was delayed until the 27th minute, when an inviting right wing cross from Martin Paterson was wasted by Steven Fletcher heading over from a central position, seven yards out. Jack Cork at least demanded a save with another header from similar distance.

The worst miss of all saw Fletcher, on the edge of the six-yard box, horribly culpable again when he failed to make contact with Cork’s cross from the left. Profligacy with such chances has been the story of Burnley’s season.

Gerrard responded with a shot from near the penalty spot which lacked the accuracy to inconvenience “The Beast” Jensen, the goalkeeper who has made more saves than any other in the Premier League. But when the same protagonists were in action again, seven minutes into the second half, poor Jensen had no chance with a shot from the 18-yards line which took a cruel deflection off Leon Cort.

He had no chance again after 52 minutes, but this time due to Gerrard’s scorching accuracy. Fletcher shot against Pepe Reina’s left-hand upright after 72 minutes, but Liverpool had the last word, through Rodriguez and Babel. Burnley return whence they came last summer, Liverpool play Chelsea next Sunday and need to raise their game if they are to finish fourth.

Premier LeagueBurnleyLiverpoolJoe Lovejoyguardian.co.uk

The Spaniard sent shudders through the Stretford End with an early goal but he had too little support to trouble the champions for 90 minutes

In the end, Manchester United won because they passed the ball with more authority and provided greater support for Wayne Rooney in attacking positions than Liverpool did for Fernando Torres. There were parts of this game when Torres looked as though he would terrorise Old Trafford single-handedly but he was an isolated, pouting and aggravated figure for most of the second half, muttering under his breath and making those little hand gestures that Iberian footballers are so fond of.

Torres might come from Madrid rather than Merseyside but it could never be said that he does not feel Liverpool’s hurt. And this, undoubtedly, was a brutal day for everyone associated with the Anfield club. They are now 18 points behind United at the top of the Premier League table, and disappearing fast in the wing-mirrors of Sir Alex Ferguson’s team. It was their 10th league defeat and, very soon, the indignities could be even worse. A fourth successive championship for United would be the club’s 19th in total, taking them one above their most despised rivals as the most successful top-division club in the country. And to think that the Kop once held up a banner for United’s supporters in the season after the first of Ferguson’s 11 titles: ‘Come back and sing Ooh-Aah Cantona when you’ve won 18.’

Liverpool, as Ferguson pointed out in one of his little subtle digs, are left trying to put a positive slant on the contest to reach the fourth Champions League qualifying place, but there used to be a saying at Anfield that first was first, and second was nowhere. So what does that say of fourth?

Liverpool had played well. In fact, they were one of the better sides to visit Old Trafford this season but there is clearly the need for some major restoration work this summer because they cannot always rely on Torres or Steven Gerrard so heavily. By his standards Gerrard had a poor game while Torres – brilliant in the first half, smothered in the second – will not remember the goal he scored in front of the Stretford End after five minutes but that agonising miss from 12 yards during the final, tense exchanges. That was the moment Old Trafford held its breath: Liverpool’s best chance of the half, Torres with the space to swivel and get in a clean shot at goal. But the striker rushed his effort and the chance to salvage something was lost.

Torres could hardly be held culpable for Liverpool’s deficiencies when the glaring truth is that the supporting cast are just not as good as United’s. A shudder of apprehension reverberated around Old Trafford whenever he collected the ball in the first half and it still seems crazy that Ferguson once explained to Manchester’s football writers that he had not tried harder to sign him from Atletico Madrid because he was “not a natural finisher.” That was the summer Liverpool paid £20m for the Spaniard – the same summer United signed, among others, Anderson and Nani for around £18m each.

Torres has been proving Ferguson wrong ever since and has now elevated himself to the point when he can strike fear into even the most intrepid crowd. Overall, though, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic can reflect that they eventually got to grips with him to spare themselves the ordeal of previous encounters.

Even so, it was tempting to wonder the damage that a Rooney-Torres partnership might have wreaked on opposition defences had Ferguson not got it so wrong. Hypothetical, of course, but how many goals would an injury-free Torres have scored in a season for United? Forty? Fifty? Liverpool’s supporters will just have to hope the same thought is not polluting the player’s mind.

Premier LeagueManchester UnitedLiverpoolDaniel Taylorguardian.co.uk

Liverpool’s appetite for the Europa League has not been in question, only their longing for adventure, but three goals in Romania and a personal landmark for Steven Gerrard delivered an emphatic response to accusations of conservatism tonight. This was Unirea Urziceni’s first defeat on home soil in Europe this season and brought Gerrard the immense satisfaction of replacing Alan Shearer as the leading English goalscorer in continental combat.

The margin of Liverpool’s aggregate triumph does a disservice to the pandemonium Unirea often caused the visiting defence. But having been admonished for innate caution at Manchester City on Sunday and witnessed his team record only two goals in seven away matches before this contest, Rafael Benítez will not be unduly troubled by an open affair. Gerrard’s 33rd goal in European competition provided welcome gloss.

Unirea, in the simplest terms, were up for it from the start. Benítez had claimed this tie was a fixation for the Romanians on their return from a mid-season break and after two defeats in Rony Levy’s first two matches in charge – at Anfield and in the league against Cluj – their opening confirmed the Liverpool manager’s view. An initially subdued response from the visitors added to the concerns for Benítez.

Levy’s side displayed more attacking intent in the first two minutes in Bucharest than in more than 90 on Merseyside but the problems they caused a nervous Liverpool defence were not reflected in the scoreline. Sorin Frunza was first to show on a sodden, heavy pitch with a dipping half-volley from 18 yards that dropped just over José Reina’s crossbar. Gerrard tested Giedrius Arlauskis with a trademark drive moments later yet Liverpool did not stretch the Unirea defence again until their captain and centre-half George Galamaz limped off in the 27th minute as a consequence of his own clumsy foul on Martin Skrtel.

Galamaz departed with his side level on aggregate courtesy of the first goal of Levy’s reign. The home side found space on the left of the Liverpool defence with alarming frequency but it was the pace and accuracy of their set-piece delivery that caused constant mayhem inside the visiting area. Marius Onofras latched on to a long ball over Skrtel and was foiled inside the box by a well-timed challenge from Daniel Agger, making his 100th Liverpool appearance. With the first example of Razvan Paduretu’s impressive armoury at a dead-ball, Bruno Fernandes towered above Agger from the corner and dispatched an unstoppable header past Reina.

The loss of their first-leg advantage so early in the game helped awaken Liverpool to their task. Of the four changes Benítez made to the side that started the first leg – with Alberto Aquilani, Dirk Kuyt and Fabio Aurelio on the bench and Albert Riera overlooked completely. The performances of the relentless Lucas and Javier Mascherano showed how difficult it will be for Aquilani to secure a regular first-team role in central midfield this term.

Liverpool’s midfield core was integral to the team’s gradual improvement and only two minutes after Galamaz’s injury they equalised in superb fashion. There appeared no immediate danger when Jamie Carragher floated a deep cross to the far post but Gerrard’s header back and David Ngog’s presence induced panic in the Romanian defence. Onofras sliced a desperate clearance to the edge of his own area and Mascherano, with only one officially recognised goal for Liverpool before the game, doubled his tally with an outstanding drive beyond Arlauskis from 25 yards.

Unirea almost regained the lead courtesy of two excellent Paduretu corners, the first piercing the penalty area and deflecting inches wide of the far post off Emiliano Insua, only to fall behind to another cross from the right five minutes before the interval. This time the home defence could not deal with a Gerrard free-kick and Babel, having taken an exquisite first touch away from Skrtel, tucked a nonchalant finish inside the near post from close range.

The tie was beyond the Romanians yet they refused to divert from their adventurous game-plan and continued to cause Liverpool problems. The visitors maximised the space they were afforded and added a third when Lucas released Yossi Benayoun inside the area and his mazy run enabled Gerrard to achieve another personal milestone with a deflected shot from close range. This was the first time since the 6-1 trouncing of Hull City on 26 September that Liverpool had scored more than twice, although their night ended on a worrying note when Skrtel was carried off with a suspected broken foot after a heavy challenge from the substitute, Antonio Semedo.

Uefa Europa LeagueLiverpoolUnirea UrziceniDaniel Taylorguardian.co.uk