AT their own request, Liverpool fans were ordered to remain in their seats long after the final whistle yesterday.
A gesture designed to improve their safety backfired horribly. Only those with a taste for the macabre enjoy hanging around at the scene of horrific accidents.
For those seeking an instant escape from the carnage they'd witnessed during the last hour of a dire Liverpool performance, the newly discovered 'goodwill' of United's matchday officials must have felt like a clever means of inflicting further torture.
There are two venues in English football where the taste of defeat is incomparable to the sense of humiliation when a Liverpool side fails to show up.
Manchester United joined Everton in enjoying along chuckle at Liverpool's expense, and the fact the visitors lacked the quality to make the contest serious has left a deep scar on a season already drifting dangerously toward disillusionment.
The 'first goal the winner' syndrome seems enshrined into the modern game, and none suffer more than Rafa Benitez's side.
Score first, and you might as well tell the bookies to pay out. The 'spirit of Istanbul' has long gone, replaced by a white flag.
From the moment Paul Scholes poked his team ahead, the competitive edge so apparent during an encouraging opening disappeared.
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