Liverpool’s winning run in the Premier League came to an end on Sunday evening as the Reds battled to a 1-1 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Adam Lallana came off the bench to secure a point as he cancelled out Marcus Rashford’s first-half strike as Jurgen Klopp’s men extended the lead at the top of the Premier League table to six points.
Rashford gives Red Devils first-half lead
It was a tame opening to the match in Manchester but Liverpool should really have claimed the lead as Sadio Mane raced down the right-flank and picked out Roberto Firmino. Faced with David De Gea, who was an injury doubt before the match, the Brazilian could only produce a weak shot that the United stopper smothered.
Jurgen Klopp’s troops were seemingly made to rue that missed opportunity as United claimed the lead with ten minutes of the first-half remaining. Victor Lindelöf produced a crunching tackle on Divock Origi, that Liverpool protested furiously but play continued with the ball eventually finding its way to Daniel James. He powered down the right-flank and tossed an excellent cross into Rashford. The striker stayed cool to poke it underneath the returning Alisson. Despite VAR checking the foul, the goal stood.
VAR controversy mars game yet again
The European champions thought they had equalised though as Mane got beyond Lindelöf and stroked the ball underneath De Gea with a great finish but the goal was ruled out for a handball in the build-up.
Rashford could have compounded their misery in the second-half as he was afforded too much space on the edge of the area but could only shoot marginally wide of the Liverpool goal.
Liverpool do get their equaliser
The league leaders were not to be denied however and it was Lallana who was the man to strike the latest blow against Manchester United. Introduced for skipper Jordan Henderson with only ten minutes left on the clock, he ghosted in at the back post to turn Andrew Robertson’s cross into an unguarded net.
They could even have stolen maximum points right at the death as United tired but Alex Oxlaxde-Chamberlain put his effort just wide as both side’s went away with hard-earned and potentially deserved points.
Final Thoughts
This really wasn’t the match that most were expecting before the match. United started the better and probably deserved the advantage after Marcus Rashford had given them the lead. However, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men tired after the break and did not know how to cope with their opponents. In the end, both sides will potentially be happy with their points for different reasons. Liverpool will reflect on a match where they did not exactly play their best football but still earned something and United will be happy having notched a draw out of what could potentially be their hardest assignment this season.
Match Report
Manchester United: de Gea (7); Rojo (6), Lindelöf (6), Maguire (7), Wan-Bissaka (7), McTominay (6), Fred (7); Young (6), Pereira (7) (Williams (N/A), 90+4′); James (7); Rashford (7) (Martial (N/A), 84′).
Liverpool: Alisson (6); Robertson (7), Matip (6), van Dijk (6), Alexander-Arnold (7); Henderson (6) (Lallana (7), 71′), Fabinho (7), Wijnaldum (6) (Keita (N/A), 82′); Mane (6), Firmino (6), Origi (5) (Oxlade-Chamberlain (6), 60′).
Goals: Rashford (36′), Lallana (85′)
Referee: Martin Atkinson
Yellow Cards: Fabinho (70′)
Red Cards: N/A
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