Vuckic played his part in United’s first goal at Anfield in seven years, but many were surprised he got the nod ahead of Hatem Ben Arfa, who had been expected to get a start after his heroics at Bolton Wanderers on Boxing Day.
Alan Pardew: “I thought Haris grew into the game.
“You’d expect that. It is at Anfield, and Liverpool have some great players, but we went toe-to-toe with them.
“Hatem was always going to be first choice to come on, but the game had perhaps gone away by then.”
"Steven Gerrard changed the game.
“He is a world-class player, and 20 minutes of Steven Gerrard can affect any game.
“Having said that, I still think there were periods when he was on the pitch when we did very well, but the goal changed that.”