LIVERPOOL, England (AP) -- Substitute Ryan Babel scored a late goal to give Liverpool a 2-1 win at home to Manchester United on Saturday -- the club's first in the Premier League against the English champions in more than four years.
Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher celebrates his side's victory against Manchester United.
The win put Liverpool three points clear of previous co-leaders Chelsea, who then also moved onto 10 points by beating Manchester City 3-1 in Saturday's evening match.
Chelsea took top spot on goal difference despite going behind to a deflected free-kick by summer target Robinho and having captain John Terry sent off in the second half.
Netherlands winger Babel scored Liverpool's winner at Anfield in the 77th minute after an error by United substitute Ryan Giggs.
Javier Mascherano had dispossessed Giggs near the byline, and Dirk Kuyt was able to collect the ball and pass it across the face of goal to Babel, whose shot went straight into the ground before bouncing into the back of the net.
Babel had come on six minutes earlier to replace summer signing Albert Riera, who played his first game for the Reds. When the Spaniard made his debut on loan to Manchester City three years ago, his new club were also on the winning side against United.
Carlos Tevez had scored a similar goal in the third minute for United, who conceded a calamitous own-goal by defender Wes Brown after a mix-up with goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar in the 27th minute.
United's misery was compounded in the 90th minute when defender Nemanja Vidic was shown a second yellow card.
"The two goals we lost were absolute shockers," United manager Alex Ferguson said. "The defending was very, very poor. People will think they are watching a Conference (League) side when they see the highlights.
"Apart from Rio Ferdinand, we did not have one good performance on the pitch. We were out-thought."
It was manager Rafael Benitez's first league victory over Ferguson, with the Merseyside club's last win coming at Old Trafford in April 2004 just before his arrival. It was also Liverpool's first win over United at Anfield since January 2001.
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"We have to be really satisfied because we were losing against a good team and we showed character to come back," Benitez said. "It was an important win for the team and also for the fans in terms of belief and confidence for the future."
Ferguson said his team's loss was down to Liverpool's aggression in midfield.
"The source of our defeat was not coping with the hassling and the tackling," said Ferguson, whose five-game winning streak over Liverpool was snapped. "You have to give them credit for that, but at the end of the day, we should cope."
The Reds are searching for their first English league title since 1990, knowing that a third consecutive United triumph would match their record haul of 18.
"We hope we can now push on for the rest of the season," defender Jamie Carragher said. "It should spur us on, because we've not been playing too well up to now. That is the best we've played today.
"It also gives us a bit of breathing space between us and United, and top is where a club like Liverpool should be."
Liverpool had started with striker Fernando Torres and midfielder Steven Gerrard on the bench due to recent injuries, while Ferguson deployed striker Dimitar Berbatov for the first time since his $55.1 million move from Tottenham on the last day of the transfer window on September 1.
The Bulgarian formed a new-look strikeforce with Tevez as Wayne Rooney and Anderson occupied the flanks. The Reds initially struggled to cope with the visitors' verve as United took the lead with just their second attacking move of the game.
Berbatov forced defenders Jamie Carragher and Fabio Aurelio to the byline, then cut the ball back for the unmarked Tevez to divert into the net.
Dutch forward Kuyt unleashed an immediate response at the other end, sending a curling effort wide from 25 yards.
As Liverpool found a response to United's dynamism when Van der Sar looked to give them a route back into the match when he fumbled a corner.
The veteran Dutch keeper recovered to block Kuyt's attempt to exploit the error, but his uncharacteristic shakiness was not over as he gifted Liverpool the equalizer.
Attempting to clear Xabi Alonso's curling shot, Van der Sar instead nudged the ball off Brown and it deflected back into his own net.
Tevez, sent off on international duty with Argentina last weekend, came close to restoring United's lead before halftime when he flicked Anderson's cross over the crossbar.
Giggs had the best effort after the break when his dipping strike from distance was expertly tipped over by goalkeeper Pepe Reina, who otherwise had a quiet afternoon.
But it was Liverpool looking more lively in the second half as they beat United at Anfield for the first time since January 2001, much to the delight of most of the 44,000 fans inside the ground.
Earlier, Liverpool fans marched on Anfield on Saturday chanting "Yanks out" in a renewed push to oust the club's American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr.
More than 2,000 disgruntled supporters carried flags and posters that read "Liars out" through the streets before Liverpool's high-profile match against Manchester United.
Gillett was inside the ground watching his first match of the season.
In Saturday's other results, Arsenal won 4-0 at Blackburn to move into third place with a hat-trick by striker Emmanuel Adebayor.
Arsenal took the lead in the eight minute when England's hat-trick hero Theo Walcott ran down the right flank and squared the ball to Robin Van Persie, who finished with his right foot from 12 yards out.
Adebayor then scored his first in first-half stoppage time, turning in Denilson's cross following a string of delicate passes.
The Togo captain got his second on a penalty in the 78th minute after Emmanuel Eboue was tackled in the area by Stephen Warnock, and completed his treble in injury-time after an assist from teenager Aaron Ramsey.
Promoted Hull climbed into fourth behind Chelsea with a shock 2-1 win at 10-man Newcastle.
Talks between Newcastle owner Mike Ashley and former manager Kevin Keegan on Friday night failed to produce a reconciliation and hundreds of supporters protested against Ashley and director of football Dennis Wise outside St. James' Park before kickoff. A reported boycott didn't materialize, with over 50,000 fans attending the game.
The fans' mood darkened further when Nicky Butt brought down Peter Halmosi in the penalty area in the 33rd minute, and Marlon King converted the spot-kick to give Hull a 1-0 lead. King then made it 2-0 in the 55th minute before new signing Xisco pulled one back for Newcastle with an 81st-minute strike.
But Newcastle could not salvage a point, and Danny Guthrie was shown a straight red card in injury time for kicking at Craig Fagan.
Thousands stayed in the stadium to protest after the game, chanting, "sack the board" and "Ashley out." Newcastle have just four points from as many games.
With new manager Gianfranco Zola watching, seventh-placed West Ham lost 3-2 at promoted West Brom, who secured a first victory this season.
West Brom took the lead after just three minutes, when James Morrison headed in Borja Balero's cross. Mark Noble quickly equalized, tapping in the rebound after Scott Carson saved David Di Michele's initial shot.
The Hammers took a short-lived lead through Lucas Neill's 35th-minute effort, but goalkeeper Robert Green then brought down Leon Barnett in the box and Roman Bednar made it 2-2 from the penalty spot.
West Brom regained the lead for good in the 83rd minute through Chris Brunt.
Fulham went sixth by beating Bolton 2-1, Portsmouth won by the same score at home to Middlesbrough, while Wigan were held 1-1 at home by Sunderland.
