Manchester United earned a flattering point at Liverpool, meaning Klopp’s side had to surrender their lead at the top of the table. An unpunished handball caused a stir
0:3 against Bournemouth, plus the Champions League exit after the 0:1 against FC Bayern: Manchester United were under pressure ahead of the game at Anfield Road and had to do without Bruno Fernandes, who was suspended with a yellow card, in addition to many injured players.
At least: Man United withstood the Reds’ initial onslaught, but had to deal with an aggressive and pressing Liverpool side. Most of the time, keeper Onana had to make do with long balls or clearances, with the Red Devils doing very little going forward.
The first chance for Klopp’s side came in the 16th minute: after a cross, Nunez headed into the middle instead of aiming at goal. Keeper Onana made the scene hot again by dropping the ball, which brought Salah onto the scene. The Egyptian narrowly missed the goal, Onana having interrupted him just in time
Liverpool superior in all respects
The Reds continued to run at the visitors, who had gone down 7-0 at Anfield Road in March. After a corner, van Dijk was on hand with his head, but Onana pulled his arms up in time (29′). Konaté’s header from another corner was also not precise enough (36′), and Nunez was too slow to react in a promising situation just before the break, ruining a good chance.
Shortly afterwards, the Red Devils were able to breathe a sigh of relief. They had been outplayed in every respect in the first half, as the statistics (15:2 shots on goal, 9:0 corners, 68 percent possession per Liverpool) showed.
Manchester United were still deep after the restart, but not quite as extreme as in the first half. Liverpool were no longer able to bridge the midfield as easily, but continued to set the tone. There were no chances for the Reds for a long time, however, and none at the other end anyway.
After an hour, Klopp brought on Gakpo and Gomez for Szoboszlai and the injured Gravenberch. The game picked up pace again, especially as Manchester began to show more confidence. Alexander-Arnold missed the goal by a hair’s breadth with a long-range shot (66′), while a minute later Höjlund failed to beat Alisson, who made a superb save – Man United’s first ever chance. Salah’s shot in the 71st minute lacked pace once again, Onana was on hand.
Shaw’s handball goes unpunished
In the 76th minute, the Reds fans once again had the goal on their lips, but Luis Diaz was also unable to get past the strong Onana. So it was – with another double change by Klopp – into the final phase, in which Shaw was twice the center of attention. Konaté missed a header and the Man United defender was taken by surprise and got a hand to the ball, but the referees deemed it not to be a penalty – a questionable decision. Shortly afterwards, Shaw tackled Konaté and was shown a yellow card.
In the final minutes, the Red Devils were outnumbered because Dalot would not stop complaining about a throw-in and was shown two yellow cards. It didn’t help Liverpool any more and Manchester took a flattering point from Anfield. The new leaders are Arsenal, who won 2-0 against Brighton thanks to Kai Havertz
