Manchester United beat Liverpool 2-0 at Old Trafford on 24 September 1998, recording an early victory over their great rivals during a season that would ultimately become the greatest in the club’s history.
Nobody inside Old Trafford that evening could have known what the following eight months would bring. By the end of the 1998/99 campaign, Sir Alex Ferguson’s side would be champions of England, FA Cup winners and European champions. Against Liverpool in September, however, United were still near the beginning of that journey.
The first breakthrough came from one of United’s most dependable players. Denis Irwin stepped forward from the penalty spot and converted to give Ferguson’s side the lead. United protected that advantage as Liverpool attempted to find a route back into the game, before Paul Scholes settled the contest late on.
The midfielder’s goal made it 2-0 and secured the points against a Liverpool side containing some of the most recognisable players of the era. For United supporters, victories over Liverpool rarely require additional significance, but viewed from almost three decades later, this one sits inside an extraordinary period of club history.
The 1998/99 season did not begin as an uninterrupted march towards glory. United had drawn their opening two Premier League matches against Leicester City and West Ham before beginning to build momentum.
Ferguson’s squad was also evolving. Dwight Yorke had arrived from Aston Villa during the summer and would develop a devastating partnership with Andy Cole. David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane, Scholes and Nicky Butt formed the core of a midfield packed with players who understood precisely what Ferguson demanded.
At the back, Irwin remained a model of consistency. Liverpool’s visit therefore came while the pieces of what would become the Treble-winning side were still falling into place.
The victory also provided another memorable moment for Scholes against United’s biggest rivals. A product of the club’s academy and one of the central figures in Ferguson’s emerging side, his late goal ensured there would be no Liverpool comeback at Old Trafford.
What followed across the remainder of the season has become part of United folklore. Ferguson’s team eventually won the Premier League after a title race with Arsenal, defeated Newcastle United at Wembley to lift the FA Cup and then produced one of football’s most dramatic European comebacks against Bayern Munich in Barcelona.
Three trophies were secured in the space of 10 extraordinary days. The Liverpool victory came eight months before that famous night at the Camp Nou, when there was no guarantee United would finish the season with any trophy at all.
That is what makes matches like this interesting to revisit. History remembers the defining moments: Giggs against Arsenal, Keane in Turin, Sheringham and Solskjær against Bayern. But the Treble was also constructed through league nights at Old Trafford when United simply had to beat the team in front of them.
On 24 September 1998, that team happened to be Liverpool. Irwin scored from the spot, Scholes finished the job, and United walked away with a 2-0 victory on a road that would eventually lead all the way to Barcelona.
