Manchester United and Liverpool played an absolute nail-biting thriller at Old Trafford to split points.
First Half:
Liverpool took a 27th-minute lead after James Milner converted from the penalty spot. The referee awarded the penalty against United when Pogba seemed to handle the ball in the box.
In the first half, Manchester United had a few sighters at goal, but thanks to the Liverpool goalkeeper the visitors walked into the dressing room at half-time with the single goal advantage.
United played the first half rather poorly and the most notable among them was Paul Pogba. Pogba looked a bit out of sorts and out of place most of the time.
Second Half:
In the second half, United boss made an immediate substitution by bringing in Wayne Rooney in place of Micheal Carrick. United shifted to the next gear very promptly in the second half but the Liverpool defence stood tall.
Mata was brought in place of Martial to further boost the attack. And as the last throw of the dice, Jose brought in Fellaini to replace Darmian. As a result of which Mkhitaryan had to play left back for the remainder of the match.
United finally got their much-deserved goal in the 84th minute thanks to Zlatan Ibrahimovic after he headed in an Antonio Valencia cross.
No show Paul:
Pogba had one of his worst games since coming back to United. Not only did he give away the penalty, but he lost possession far too easily and that too in dangerous situations. Nothing worked for him during the night.
Inspired substitutions:
Both coaches made inspired substitutions during the game. Jurgen Klopp brought in Coutinho in the second half and he almost had an immediate impact after his cheeky little pass found Firmino who almost scored the second goal. Coutinho was able to find spaces in dangerous positions from the moment he came on to the pitch. And after his arrival, the game became much more stretched and open. Liverpool looked much more dangerous during counter attacks.
While Jose Mourinho brought in Fellaini as his third and final substitution. And this proved to be a masterstroke for United as it was Fellaini’s header which hit the post and then found Valencia who eventually made the assist for Zlatan.
Where they stand:
United are now unbeaten in 10 matches but the draw doesn’t help either side. Liverpool are now in the 3rd position with 45 points, 7 points behind league leaders Chelsea. And United are unmoved at 6th with a points tally of 40. This draw, in turn, helps the league leaders as well as the other title contenders.
