The match, despite the rivalry between the two teams, was a fairly unmemorable game, rarely sparking into life, with playmakers Eric Cantona and Steve McManaman, marked and closed out by Jamie Redknapp and John Barnes and Roy Keane and Nicky Butt respectively.

Keane went on to stop virtually every attack the Liverpool midfield threw at Manchester United, and covering as commentator Peter Brackley described, "every blade of grass", to win the man of the match award.

As the Manchester United players climbed the steps to the Royal Box to receive their medals, captain Eric Cantona was spat at by a spectator wearing a Liverpool shirt, while manager Alex Ferguson evaded a punch thrown by another.

[3] For Liverpool, the match was the final appearance of goalscoring legend Ian Rush, who had scored 346 goals for the club since joining them in 1980 (sandwiched by a one-season spell at Juventus in the late 1980s) and left at the end of the season to sign for Leeds United.

Manchester United players, by contrast, wore traditional navy suits with a full button vest, black and white striped tie, and red carnation boutonnière.