Manchester United put in a strong performance at Anfield on Sunday, avoiding defeat to the current leaders of the Premier League: two well-taken goals and resolute defending to grab their first point since winning at the Etihad last month. Ruben Amorim made three changes to the starting eleven that suffered a defeat at home to Newcastle last week. Amad was still a part of the front three. Meanwhile, Manuel Ugarte and Kobbie Mainoo replaced Casemiro and Christian Eriksen in the midfield. Bruno Fernandes returned from suspension after missing out last time.
An encouraging first half performance
United did make a much brighter start with their high pressing and better passing but it was Liverpool that nearly made the early breakthrough when Harry Maguire dealt with a Mohamed Salah cross. A subsequent corner from Trent Alexander-Arnold was clearly by our defence. In the fourteenth minute, the opposition was through again when Luis Diaz put a through to Cody Gakpo but his shot drifted wide. Moments later, Alexis Mac Allister’s volley was parried out by Andre Onana as our defence had to up their game to keep the hosts’ attack at bay.
Just before the 20th minute, the Red Devils had their first goalscoring opportunity. Following a quick counter-attack, Diogo Dalot hit a cross into the centre of the six-yard box. Unfortunately, Amad Diallo ran too far to make a complete connection with the ball and headed it backwards. Kobbie Mainoo’s subsequent strike was deflected out for the corner. As we approach half-time, Rasmus Hojlund had the best chance to open the scoring after retrieving a long ball but his effort was fired straight at the keeper. The game remained goalless but there were some encouraging signs from United.
United Show Their Character
The game burst into life during the second half with our opening goal coming from an unlikely source. Bruno Fernandes did well to bypass into the centre cutting through the Liverpool defence to feed the ball to Lisandro Martinez. The Argentine raced into the box and fired a rocket into the back of the net to give us a precious lead.
The euphoria of being a goal up against rivals was not to last too long. It took just six minutes for Cody Gakpo to hit a blistering ball into the corner of the net past Andre Onana to level the game up. Gakpo had sent his fellow countryman De Ligt to the ground before changing directions before taking his shot. With just over 20 plus minutes to play, VAR was to play its part when referee Michael Oliver was asked to go over to the pitchside monitor. Matthijs de Ligt’s arm struck the ball inside the box. Once reviewed, the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Mohamed Salah stepped up to take the kick. Onana managed to get a glove on the ball, however it still went to give the opposition a 2-1 lead.
United were by no means finished. In the 81st minute, Alejandro Garncho’s low cross into the box with the ball finding Amad Diallo to slot the ball home to the delirium of the travelling fans in the away end. With several minutes of the game left, we sensed we could go and grab the winner as it went end-to-end from both sides.
With 30 seconds left, we missed the perfect chance to score a last-minute winning goal when Joshua Zirkzee was played through passing the ball to Harry Maguire in the centre of the six-yard box putting his effort over the bar. A point shared with our great rivals. United showed their character and a worthy performance from all the players. Positive signs can be taken into the weeks ahead.
Player Ratings & MOTM
Andre Onana – 6.5. Almost got a hand to the penalty. Then made two late saves to deny Liverpool a potential winner. Distributed the ball well to his teammates,
Harry Maguire – 8. Enjoyed defending with his back against the wall. Could have ultimately given United all three points with the last kick of the game.
Matthijs De Ligt – 5.5. Responsible for the conceding of the two goals. Got turned by Gakpo and then his arm/hand in an unnatural position that led to the VAR review and penalty given.
Lisandro Martinez – 8. An all-round display from the Argentine after some disappointing performances in previous games and our unlikely source to get our opening goal.
Noussair Mazraoui – 7. Much better display and contained most of Liverpool’s threat down the left.
Manuel Ugarte – 8. Continuing to get better with every performance in an United shirt.
Kobbie Mainoo – 7. Gave us control in the midfield with his passing and dribbling.
Diogo Dalot – 7.5. A fine performance down the left flank caused a number of problems for Alexander-Arnold.
Bruno Fernandes – 9 & MOTM. One of the best players on the pitch reminded everyone why we cannot do without the Portuguese maestro.
Amad Diallo – 7. Took his goal well to level the game for United. Spurred a decent opportunity to score in the first half.
Rasmus Højlund – 6. Should have done better with the opportunity he had in the first half when he shot straight at Alisson. The only chance he had during the game.
Subs:
Alejandro Garnacho – 7. A threat from the minute he came on and set up the equaliser for Amad.
Leny Yoro – N/A. Made a crucial tackle to stop the Liverpool attack in the dying minutes of the game.
Joshua Zirkzee – N/A. Made the pass to Maguire who subsequently put the ball over the top missing the chance to win the game.
Looking ahead
We take a break from Premier League action beginning the defence of the FA Cup with an away trip to Arsenal in the third round this weekend. United will want to reach Wembley final again having been there the past two seasons. We can take heart from this performance at Anfield and give us something to build on.