Xherdan Shaqiri came off the bench and scored two goals as Liverpool swept aside Manchester United 3-1 at Anfield on Sunday evening.
The match itself was a thrilling watch and Sadio Mane got Liverpool a deserved opening goal as he clinically finished past David De Gea from only a few yards out in the 24th minute. The Reds should have stretched the lead but was instead United who got the next goal as Jesse Lingard capitalised on an error from Alisson.
Shaqiri then came off the bench and once again put the Reds into the lead with a deflected strike from inside the penalty area. The Swiss midfielder netted again with only ten minutes on the clock to make sure of an excellent three points for Klopp’s men.
High-octane start
The game started at a manic pace and the visitors thought they had the perfect start as Ashley Young’s free-kick bounced all the way into the net from deep. However, Romelu Lukaku, whilst stood in an offside position, attempted to poke it home and it was ruled out for offside.
Marcus Rashford also tried his luck from distance but Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson collected the striker’s fierce shot with relative comfort. Fabinho then had his own shot from distance that fizzed just wide of David De Gea’s goal. Roberto Firmino also forced an excellent low stop from the United goalkeeper.
Mane nets deserved opener
The tremendous start continued as Klopp’s troops once again went close. From a corner, the ball was stabbed goalwards but Young had got back well to clear it off the line
An exquisite bit of play eventually saw Liverpool hit the front through Mane. An excellent lofted through ball from Fabinho saw the Senegalese forward presented with plenty of space in front of the Manchester United goal. Given time and space, he controlled and confidently tucked the ball under De Gea to increase the decibel level inside Anfield.
The Reds should have doubled the lead as Dejan Lovren found space but his shot on the spin was powered wide of goal.
Lingard pounces on Alisson blunder to equalise
Liverpool were thoroughly dominant throughout the first-half but completely against the run of play, United were level. A cross from Lukaku looked as though it was going to be routinely collected by Alisson. However, the ball slipped out of the Brazilian’s grasp and presented itself to Lingard. Reacting excellently, he stretched to make sure it looped up into the Liverpool net to ensure the match was level at the break.
Just like in the first-half, the hosts started the better and an excellent, low save from De Gea was the only thing that stopped Roberto Firmino from making it 2-1.
Shaqiri comes off the bench to secure victory
The game began to stagnate following that chance as Liverpool resorted to numerous pot shots from the edge of the area. Klopp introduced Xherdan Shaqiri to the fray to try and edge Liverpool into the lead once again. The Swiss did indeed have the desired impact as Mane reached the by-line and pulled the ball back. It took a few deflections before finding the feet of Shaqiri. He then picked his spot and hammered the ball into the top corner.
He was up to the task once again with only ten minutes on the clock as he picked the ball up on the edge of the area, before playing a quick one-two with Firmino. He received the ball back, and his curling effort took a deflection as it nestled into the bottom corner.
Final Thoughts
This victory will taste so satisfying for Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool. To not only beat Manchester United, but play them off the park in such style, was a great sight to see. The attacking play from the hosts was mesmerising and they really did deserve the three points. The Red Devils just did not know how to cope with the Merseysiders and were second best throughout the majority of the game.
Match Report
Liverpool: Alisson (6); Robertson (7), van Dijk (7), Lovren (6), Clyne (6); Keita (6) (Shaqiri (8), 70′), Fabinho (7), Wijnaldum (7); Mane (7) (Henderson (N/A), 84′), Salah (6), Firmino (6).
Manchester United: De Gea (6); Lindelöf (6), Bailly (6), Darmian (5); Young (5), Herrera (6) (Martial (N/A), 79′), Matic (5), Lingard (7) (Mata (N/A), 85′), Dalot (6) (Fellaini (5), 45′); Lukaku (4), Rashford (5).
Goals: Mane (24′), Lingard (33′), Shaqiri (73′, 81′)
Referee: Martin Atkinson
Yellow Cards: Dalot (26′), Lukaku (40′)
Red Cards: N/A
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