Manchester United 0, Liverpool 3 - Match Recap: Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life
A look back at the key moments in Liverpool’s great victory over Manchester United in Premier League action.
Manchester United 0 - 3 Liverpool
Liverpool: Diaz 35’, 42’, Salah 56’
Pre-Match
It is time for one of the most anticipated fixtures of the season, this time surprisingly early on in the campaign, as Liverpool travel down to Old Trafford and Manchester United. Our Reds are riding high on two wins in two so far, whereas United are expected to make a return after losing to Brighton last week. The good news is that this is the third match of the season so we’ll at least be getting this trip out of the way early and not have to worry about going back to Old Trafford when things are busier for us.
The lineup is unchanged from last week’s win against Brentford, as well, so for the moment it looks like Arne Slot may have found the players he relies on most, with Diogo Jota starting up top once again. New signing Federico Chiesa was not ready for the trip and wasn’t named, but we may see the Italian in action following the international break. For now, the focus is on this Northwest Derby and our storied rivals.
First Half
Liverpool are out in their new third kits, but a slow and sloppy start that puts the Reds under pressure two minutes in. Thankfully it is scrappily handled, and Liverpool work to gain some type of control. The control pays off as Ryan Gravenberch carries the ball through traffic, pass to Luis Diaz, who goes in for a shot that is deflected and Trent Alexander-Arnold gets the ball just across the line, but the goal is disallowed for offside. A roller coaster of emotions, but its a good sign for the rest of the match.
There will surely be another talk about losing duals in halftime from the new coach, as Liverpool struggle to hold the ball outside of a few bright spots. Virgil van Dijk even carried the ball in Joël Matip style towards the final third but his pass was blocked. United have tightened up their midfield in these ten minutes as well, causing some problems for Liverpool getting through and forward. The biggest problem is that our defense is getting stretched out of position and having to catch up, which only means danger, and we’re not doing a good enough job of the same thing.
Liverpool get a corner of the game at the half hour mark but it doesn’t find a good target. Manchester United, despite having more possession, are a little more wasteful with the ball but the Reds aren’t able to take full advantage yet. This writer is proven wrong because it doesn’t take much longer after Casemiro has a pass picked up by Gravenberch again - this time leading to our first real GOAL! Luis Diaz gets a head on it just under Szoboszlai to put the Reds ahead!
That should be an exciting injection into these last ten-ish minutes of the match, but we also may be saving ourselves now for the second half and working to protect this lead. Liverpool have been able to take more possession in these final minutes and Casemiro is dispossessed once again leading to ANOTHER LUIS DIAZ GOAL! 2-0 AT HALFTIME!
Second Half
Liverpool come back out for the second half, making no changes, while Manchester United take out Casemiro for a 20 year old making his Premier League debut. Play is stopped early on though as Jota collides with another United player and the opposition is down for an extended period of time with a potential head injury. Play restarts after five minutes and Liverpool work to regain their first half control.
Trent has another chance at goal after Szoboszlai carries the ball into the third, but is ruled offside. Manchester United plays a short ball into midfield that is once again won by our Hungarian, setting up Mohamed Salah for a THIRD GOAL! Mo scores his third of the season and seventh at Old Trafford to make him the highest scoring visiting player at the United home. Within two minutes of that goal, Salah takes two more shots that don’t hit the target, but he is clearly reinvigorated as United completely collapse.
Liverpool have taken full hold of this game now, picking up every second ball and taking advantage of every space they’re given. Manchester United are being forced to play reactive football and are not doing well with it. Alisson has had his first couple tests in this half, including around the 63rd minute when United’s Joshua Zirkzee puts him under pressure at close range but the Brazilian is able to block it well.
Slot makes his first change of the match at the 65th minute, taking off Diaz after the Colombian just barely survived a crunching tackle from Matthijs De Ligt for Cody Gakpo. Diaz has been on fine form but Gakpo makes his presence known early on when a header from Szoboszlai again goes just wide. Manchester United make a change at the 68th minutes, bringing on Harry Maguire to make things a little easier on Liverpool by taking off De Ligt. Trent Alexander-Arnold comes off early again at the 75th minutes, replaced by Conor Bradley, alongside Diogo Jota making way for Darwin Núñez, in more leg-saving efforts. As the match has settled a little more, it appears the best time to bring on the Uruguayan chaos machine. One more goal would put Liverpool at the top of the table, after all.
Dominik Szoboszlai finally has his chance after receiving an assist from Conor Bradley, but takes one touch too many and is shut down just outside the net. United have come alive just a little bit to make things more difficult but the visiting fans are in full voice again just before another change is made when Andy Robertson comes off for Tsimikas. Another goal seems a little less likely than it did five minutes ago, but really the important thing is to preserve this lead and another clean sheet, especially with at least five minutes likely to be added on.
Final Thoughts
As “The Reds have got no money but we’ll still win the league” rang out around Old Trafford, Liverpool once again emphatically did the thing. Another win, another clean sheet, and at the historic home of one of our biggest rivals. It’s only the third match of the season, but things might be brighter than we think.
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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