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18
Manchester United were decimated 3-0 by Liverpool at Old Trafford in what was a shambolic performance that fans would sooner choose to forget.
In the early stages, it was Man United who got off to the stronger start, pressing Liverpool in their final third. The hosts attempted three quick attacks, however, a wayward pass from Rashford ended up as a corner that Fernandes was unable to strike cleanly.
In the fourth minute, it was the visitors on the attack, with Diogo Jota firing past the far post. While United did well to prevent Liverpool from coming down the centre, they will need to maintain their focus to stop a rampant Liverpool attack.
It took just moments for United to fail at this task. In the sixth minute, Ryan Gravenberch cut the United defence open, switching play to Trent Alexander-Arnold who took a first-touch shot. While it appeared as if Lisandro Martinez cleared the ball off the line, the referee’s watch buzzed, notifying him of the goal.
Fortunately, Mohamed Salah, who was offside, touched the ball en route to Alexander-Arnold, allowing VAR to disallow the goal. A lucky break for the hosts.
The midfield battle was intense, with both sides marking tightly. Joshua Zirkzee received a yellow card in the 23rd minute for tugging on the shirt of Salah, a testament to how aggressive the two sides were jostling for possession.
In the 27th minute, Casemiro drilled in a sublime long ball from the halfway line, with Rashford racing to meet it. Unfortunately, the ball was a few metres too far, allowing goalkeeper Alisson to intercept.
After intercepting a soft Liverpool corner, United were on the counter-attack. While Garnacho was in a threatening position, he was heavily marked. He lobbed the ball to Mazraoui, who struggled to connect, allowing his soft shot to go wide. Notably, it was United’s first shot of the match, proving how the hosts have struggled to produce the final product on the attack.
In the 35th minute, Casemiro was punished for playing out from the back. Salah intercepted, engineering a quick Liverpool counter which ended with Luis Diaz heading the ball into the back of the net. United will need to kick things up a gear to have any chance of getting anything out of this match.
Six minutes from the break, Fernandes passed the ball from the edge of the box to Mazraoui, who took a decent shot on goal that forced a parry from Alisson for what was United’s first shot on target. Moments later, Martinez was booked for a reckless challenge on Dominik Szoboszlai. He will need to keep his temper in check if he hopes to see out the rest of the match.
In the 42nd minute, disaster struck again in an almost identical manner. A Casemiro mistake led to a fast Liverpool counter, with Salah threading the ball through to Diaz in the box, who slotted the ball past Onana at the near post. Suddenly, United had given themselves a mountain to climb.
One minute into five minutes of stoppage time, Mainoo was handed a yellow card, the third of the half for United. Composure will be needed in the second half.
It was a disgruntled crowd at Old Trafford as the referee blew the half-time whistle. Ten Hag would need to make some major changes to have any chance of bouncing back.
As United returned to the field, it was Academy graduate Toby Collyer who took to the field in Casemiro’s stead. Perhaps the youngster could impress on his Premier League debut.
Moments after the restart, Mazraoui was down with a head injury. After making a sliding tackle on Jota, the United full-back’s head was knocked by the Liverpool man. While the new arrival was down for a while, he was helped to his feet by the medical staff soon enough; a promising sign after the initial panic.
In the 51st minute, United were on the attack. Zirkzee curled in a finesse shot which forced a full-stretch save from the Liverpool keeper. Good work from Collyer who started the build-up.
Three minutes later, Alexander-Arnold looked to score Liverpool’s third with a dangerous shot from the edge of the box. Fortunately, his shot was blocked.
Moments later, the visitors rubbed more salt in United’s wound as Salah thumped in a thunderous effort to hand Liverpool their third goal of the evening. While Mainoo gave away the initial ball, Dalot left Salah unmarked, making his job that much easier.
Mere seconds after kick-off, Salah almost scored again, however his effort soared over the crossbar.
Seconds later, Salah was at it again, taking a shot from the corner of the box that skidded off Dalot’s leg and went just inches wide. Ten Hag’s team appeared to have lost their handle of the game completely.
64 minutes in, De Ligt was brandished a yellow card after making a rough challenge on Diaz.
In the 69th minute, Harry Maguire came on for De Ligt, while Amad Diallo replaced Alejandro Garnacho.
With 13 minutes left on the clock, Rashford sent an opportune cross to Zirkzee, whose volley came agonisingly close to finding the back of the net, only to veer past the far post.
In the 85th minute, Christian Eriksen replaced Zirkzee. Yet another peculiar change from Ten Hag moments before the final whistle.
One minute before the end, Darwin Nunez took a shot from outside the box that was inches wide of becoming the visitors’ fourth goal of the match.
Ultimately, it was an embarrassing performance from Ten Hag’s side, who were clearly dominated in their own backyard. One cannot help but wonder whether Ten Hag’s days as United manager are numbered given his questionable tactics time and again as well as his seeming inability to turn the club’s fortunes around from last season.
Starting XI: Onana, Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez, Fernandes, Rashford, Zirkzee, Garnacho, Casemiro, Dalot, Mainoo
Subs: Collyer, Maguire, Amad, Eriksen
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