Background: It took a club-record fee for a defender to procure Rio Ferdinand from Leeds United in 2002, but our investment was more than validated over the next 12 seasons of sterling service at Old Trafford. The defensive rock even occasionally contributed huge goals, including this one against rivals Liverpool.
The goal: Sir Alex Ferguson’s title-chasers were already ahead via Paul Scholes’s strike on his 500th club appearance, when Ryan Giggs’s cross found its way to Ferdinand following a slashed clearance from Jamie Carragher. Rio expertly picked the ball out of the air with his right foot, before unleashing an unstoppable left-footed effort high into the net past the helpless Pepe Reina.