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Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool

By Phil McNultyChief football writer at Old Trafford
Marcus Rashford
Marcus Rashford ended a run of 997 minutes without a goal in all competitions for Manchester United against Liverpool

Manchester United produced an outstanding display to defeat Liverpool and give manager Erik ten Hag his first Premier League victory at a thunderous Old Trafford.

Ten Hag took the bold decision to drop captain Harry Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo and was rewarded with a performance that lifted the mood of crisis around Manchester United and leave Liverpool still searching for a first win of the season.

Jadon Sancho showed superb control and composure to deservedly put United in front after 16 minutes before Marcus Rashford raced clear to beat Alisson from substitute Anthony Martial's pass eight minutes after the interval.

Mo Salah set up a tense finish when he scrambled in a header with nine minutes left but United survived to give Ten Hag just the sort of triumph he needs to make his mark at Old Trafford.

Man Utd rise to the occasion

Manchester United were at their lowest ebb after a 4-0 humiliation at Brentford followed an opening day home defeat by Brighton.

And while thousands protested against the ownership of the Glazers before kick-off and the chants continued throughout the game, United's fans rallied behind a performance of fierce intensity and commitment that left Liverpool bullied for long periods.

New £60m signing Casemiro was paraded in front of the Stretford End before kick-off and how he must have relished the magnificent atmosphere inside Old Trafford as United turned the misery of their abject first two league performances on its head.

Liverpool won 5-0 here last season and 4-0 at Anfield but United mustered more energy and aggression in the first 10 minutes here than in both of those embarrassing performances.

Ten Hag employed pace to take advantage of Liverpool's high defensive line and they should have been ahead even before Sancho opened the scoring, Anthony Elanga hitting the post after racing clear.

United contested every challenge with a fired up Lisandro Martinez setting the tone early on with a robust challenge on Mohamed Salah.

Rashford's form has been indifferent in recent times but his confidence will surely soar after the composed manner in which he scored what eventually proved to be the winner.

And this was a landmark night for Ten Hag, who knew his decision to leave out Maguire and Ronaldo would have brought scrutiny had United lost.

Instead, he enjoyed the sort of night that he will hope gets his Old Trafford reign up and running.

The Football News Show: Do Man Utd need to change Ronaldo's role?

Mediocre Liverpool fall short

Liverpool's disappointing start to the season continued as they found themselves over-run from the kick-off by an inspired Manchester United.

Jurgen Klopp's side have injury problems and Darwin Nunez's moment of madness that resulted in a red card against Crystal Palace deprived Liverpool of the height in attack that might have exploited Martinez's lack of stature but they got exactly what they deserved here - nothing.

Klopp's decision to omit Fabinho was mystifying, even more so when James Milner and Jordan Henderson were left off the pace as United rattled into challenges and contested every ball with a fierce competitive edge.

Liverpool were also vulnerable at the back, with Virgil van Dijk's poor start to the season continuing, especially with a passive piece of defending for Sancho's goal.

Klopp will not be panicking and Liverpool have too much quality to struggle for long but two points from their first three league games is a bitterly disappointing return and it is hard to make a case that they deserved anything more.

Player of the match

Li MartínezLisandro Martínez

with an average of 8.15

Manchester United

  1. Squad number6Player nameLi Martínez
    Average rating

    8.15

  2. Squad number12Player nameMalacia
    Average rating

    8.14

  3. Squad number10Player nameRashford
    Average rating

    7.74

  4. Squad number25Player nameSancho
    Average rating

    7.66

  5. Squad number19Player nameVarane
    Average rating

    7.62

  6. Squad number14Player nameEriksen
    Average rating

    7.11

  7. Squad number9Player nameMartial
    Average rating

    7.09

  8. Squad number20Player nameDiogo Dalot
    Average rating

    7.05

  9. Squad number1Player namede Gea
    Average rating

    7.05

  10. Squad number8Player nameBruno Fernandes
    Average rating

    6.88

  11. Squad number36Player nameElanga
    Average rating

    6.86

  12. Squad number39Player nameMcTominay
    Average rating

    6.61

  13. Squad number34Player namevan de Beek
    Average rating

    6.05

  14. Squad number17Player nameFred
    Average rating

    5.91

  15. Squad number29Player nameWan-Bissaka
    Average rating

    5.71

  16. Squad number7Player nameCristiano Ronaldo
    Average rating

    5.44

Liverpool

  1. Squad number11Player nameMohamed Salah
    Average rating

    5.09

  2. Squad number19Player nameElliott
    Average rating

    4.89

  3. Squad number1Player nameAlisson
    Average rating

    4.88

  4. Squad number23Player nameDíaz
    Average rating

    4.86

  5. Squad number28Player nameFábio Carvalho
    Average rating

    4.74

  6. Squad number26Player nameRobertson
    Average rating

    4.53

  7. Squad number3Player nameFabinho
    Average rating

    4.45

  8. Squad number14Player nameHenderson
    Average rating

    4.12

  9. Squad number7Player nameMilner
    Average rating

    4.02

  10. Squad number2Player nameGomez
    Average rating

    4.01

  11. Squad number9Player nameRoberto Firmino
    Average rating

    4.00

  12. Squad number21Player nameTsimikas
    Average rating

    3.96

  13. Squad number4Player namevan Dijk
    Average rating

    3.90

  14. Squad number66Player nameAlexander-Arnold
    Average rating

    3.72

Line-ups

Man Utd

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 1de Gea
  • 20DalotBooked at 45minsSubstituted forWan-Bissakaat 86'minutes
  • 19VaraneBooked at 27mins
  • 6Li Martínez
  • 12Malacia
  • 39McTominay
  • 14EriksenSubstituted forvan de Beekat 86'minutes
  • 25SanchoSubstituted forFredat 71'minutes
  • 8Bruno FernandesBooked at 74mins
  • 36ElangaSubstituted forMartialat 45'minutes
  • 10RashfordSubstituted forCristiano Ronaldoat 86'minutes

Substitutes

  • 5Maguire
  • 7Cristiano Ronaldo
  • 9Martial
  • 17Fred
  • 22Heaton
  • 23Shaw
  • 29Wan-Bissaka
  • 34van de Beek
  • 49Garnacho

Liverpool

Formation 4-3-3

  • 1Alisson
  • 66Alexander-ArnoldBooked at 24mins
  • 2Gomez
  • 4van Dijk
  • 26RobertsonSubstituted forTsimikasat 85'minutes
  • 19Elliott
  • 14HendersonSubstituted forFabinhoat 59'minutes
  • 7MilnerSubstituted forCarvalhoat 73'minutes
  • 11Salah
  • 9Firmino
  • 23Díaz

Substitutes

  • 3Fabinho
  • 13Adrián
  • 21Tsimikas
  • 28Carvalho
  • 42Clark
  • 43Bajcetic
  • 47Phillips
  • 72van den Berg
  • 95Davies
Referee:
Michael Oliver

Match Stats

Home TeamMan UtdAway TeamLiverpool
Possession
Home29%
Away71%
Shots
Home13
Away17
Shots on Target
Home5
Away5
Corners
Home6
Away8
Fouls
Home11
Away7

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Manchester United 2, Liverpool 1.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Manchester United 2, Liverpool 1.

  3. Post update

    Foul by Luis Díaz (Liverpool).

  4. Post update

    Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  5. Post update

    Corner, Manchester United. Conceded by Kostas Tsimikas.

  6. Post update

    Foul by Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool).

  7. Post update

    Anthony Martial (Manchester United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  8. Post update

    Fabinho (Liverpool) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  9. Post update

    Foul by Donny van de Beek (Manchester United).

  10. Post update

    Fabinho (Liverpool) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  11. Post update

    Foul by Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United).

  12. Post update

    Harvey Elliott (Liverpool) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  13. Post update

    Foul by Tyrell Malacia (Manchester United).

  14. Post update

    Attempt missed. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Anthony Martial.

  15. Substitution

    Substitution, Manchester United. Donny van de Beek replaces Christian Eriksen.

  16. Substitution

    Substitution, Manchester United. Cristiano Ronaldo replaces Marcus Rashford.

  17. Substitution

    Substitution, Manchester United. Aaron Wan-Bissaka replaces Diogo Dalot.

  18. Substitution

    Substitution, Liverpool. Kostas Tsimikas replaces Andrew Robertson.

  19. Post update

    Attempt missed. Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Mohamed Salah following a corner.

  20. Post update

    Corner, Liverpool. Conceded by Tyrell Malacia.

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