22.08.2022 » Man United made a statement at Old Trafford by beating Liverpool
It's difficult to find the rights words to describe Manchester United's start of the season, especially after being completely ran over by Brentford just a week ago, in a game that ended with a harsh loss of 4-0. The Red Devils had already started with the wrong foot in the league's debut, when they were defeated at home against Brighton by 2-1. With all this in mind, Erik ten Hag was definitely under pressure for tonight's home game against Liverpool, as the Red Devils were desperately needing to grab a win and boost the fans' hopes for the season ahead. And against all odds available at many football betting bookmakers, United surprised Liverpool and defeated Jurgen Klopp's men with a 2-1 scoreline. Ronaldo only played the last 5 minutes of the match, as he started the game on the bench.
Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool - Goals and highlights:
Changes in the starting lineup...
Erik ten Hag changed several players in Man United's lineup, starting with the defensive line. The team's captain, Harry Maguire was relegated to the bench, just like the left-back Luke Shaw. Their replacements were former Real Madrid centre-back, Raphael Varane and one of the new signings for this season, Tyrell Malacia.
In midfield, the Dutch manager replaced Fred with Scott McTominay, while in the attack the only change brought by ten Hag was benching Cristiano Ronaldo and starting with Anthony Elanga.
There was a clear attempt to press Liverpool high up the pitch from the start, with a younger and fresher side from the hosts. And it paid off, as the Red Devils managed to hold Liverpool back in the start and even broke the deadlock quite early in the game, around the 16th minute of the first half.
A good run from Elanga on the left side ended up with a pass to the center of the box, as he aimed to his teammate Jadon Sancho. The England international showed all his class when he received the ball, as he sat James Milner down just before shooting to the low corner and making it 1-0 to United. Everything was going according to plan for the hosts and the scoreline wouldn't change until the half-time break.
Giving Liverpool a dose of their own medicine...
In the second half we saw more of the same, as Liverpool had a lot more possession, but wasn't really capable of creating as many scoring chances as they would like. When looking at Jurgen Klopp's bench, the truth is that the German manager didn't have many options to change his attack. Diogo Jota is still injured and Darwin Núñez is facing a 3-game ban after being shown a straight red card for violent conduct in Liverpool's previous Premier League game against Crystal Palace.
With a 1-goal lead, Erik ten Hag knew Liverpool were going to take more risks in the second half and United's attacking front could hurt them with their speed and pacey counter-attacks. And we didn't need to wait long for that to happen as Old Trafford roared for the second time on the night in the 53rd minute, when Marcus Rashford found the back of the net for the first time in the season. The English forward received the assist from Anthony Martial, who had came in at half-time as Elanga's replacement.
Klopp wasn't happy at all with the way his team was playing and if United were under huge pressure ahead of tonight's match, the Anfield side wasn't necessarily in a much better position, as they were yet to win a game in the Premier League this season as well. However, the only sign of a reaction probably came in too late, as Mohamed Salah's goal in the 81st minute didn't make any difference in this match's outcome. Manchester United grabbed the first points of the season and finally made their fans believe something positive could happen despite all the turmoil around the club.
Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Manchester United is on August 27, against Southampton. You can watch Southampton vs Manchester United, Chelsea vs Leicester City, Liverpool vs Bournemouth, Manchester City vs Crystal Palace, Arsenal vs Fulham, and PSV vs Rangers, all matches provided from our live soccer game pages.
Manchester United next game:
Southampton vs Manchester United kick-off time (27-08-2022):
Beijing (China) | UTC/GMT+8: 19:30
Jakarta (Indonesia) | UTC/GMT+7: 18:30
India (New Delhi) | UTC/GMT+5.30: 17:00
Italy (Turin) | UTC/GMT+2: 13:30
Spain (Madrid) | UTC/GMT+2: 13:30
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | UTC/GMT+1: 12:30
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | UTC/GMT-3: 08:30
New York (United States) | UTC/GMT-4: 07:30
Los Angeles (United States) | UTC/GMT-7: 04:30
Sources: ronaldo7.net / skysports.com / goal.com / si.com
