United and Liverpool play out another thriller

Another wasteful display from Liverpool’s attackers allowed Manchester United to share a 2-2 draw with their arch-rivals at Old Trafford and dent the Reds’ title chances.

LINEUPS

MUN XI: Onana; Dalot, Kambwala, Maguire, Wan-Bissaka; Casemiro, Mainoo; Garnacho, Fernandes*, Rashford; Hojlund

MUN SUBS: Bayindir, Amass, Ogunneye, Amrabat, Eriksen, Mount, Forson, Amad, Antony

LIV XI: Kelleher; Bradley, Quansah, Van Dijk*, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Endo, Mac Allister; Salah, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz

LIV SUBS: Adrian, Konate, Gomez, Tsimikas, Gravenberch, Jones, Elliott, Gakpo, Danns

Action: After a thrilling FA Cup quarter-final between these two sides last month, another extremely entertaining encounter began with drama from the off when Alejandro Garnacho was sent through on goal, rounded Caoimhin Kelleher before putting into an empty but was then flagged offside.

Liverpool began to establish themselves as the dominant force fairly soon after that, though, and had an excellent chance just a few minutes later when Dominik Szoboszlai was sent through and unleashed a left-footed effort that was well saved by Andre Onana.

It didn’t take too long for the Reds to break the deadlock, though, and they went ahead after 23 minutes via Colombia international attacker Luis Diaz. Andrew Robertson’s corner kick was flicked on by Darwin Nunez and then Luis Diaz was able to divert beyond Onana.

Liverpool continued to dominate the game and went into half-time having had 14 shots to Manchester United’s zero but they could not extend their lead.

Manchester United’s first shot came in the 51st minute and it was a remarkable turning point of a moment when Jarell Quansah let go of a loose pass on the half-way line, allowing for Bruno Fernandes to take on an effort from so far out first time and level things for United after what had been a really poor performance by the Portuguese midfielder. 

Bruno Fernandes, what a GOAL 😱 pic.twitter.com/yxL9VDrIKN

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 7, 2024

The home team began to grow into the game after their fortunate equaliser and incredibly took the lead when the extremely impressive Kobbie Mainoo, arguably the most composed man on the field in a chaotic match, produced a curling effort from the corner of the edge of the box to give United the lead.

Liverpool, susceptible to counter attacks, then continued to pile the pressure on and eventually got themselves a penalty in the dying moments of the 90 when Aaron Wan-Bissaka tripped Harvey Elliott. Mohamed Salah, who had spurned so many chances, stepped up and cooly earned the visitors a point.

Chances were still to be had with Luis Diaz and Harvey Elliott both having efforts for Liverpool but for the second time in a month, Liverpool left Old Trafford without a victory that they would have deserved.

The big picture: The draw means that Manchester United have closed the gap on the top five and the likely UEFA Champions League qualification spots to eight points but a victory for Tottenham Hotspur over Nottingham Forest later on this evening would make it 11 points and surely unassailable. Liverpool, on the other hand, have been knocked off top spot now and sit a point below league leaders Arsenal but above Manchester City on goal difference.

Man of the match: Andre Onana. Once again, the Cameroonian international continued what has actually ended up being quite an impressive first season with some excellent saves. 

EVENTS

Kick-off

‘2 | DISALLOWED: Garnacho

’24 | GOAL: Luis Diaz (0-1)

Half-time

’50 | GOAL: Fernandes (1-1)

’67 | GOAL: Mainoo (2-1)

’84 | GOAL: Salah (2-2) [pen]

Full-time