After a couple of poor results in the league, United stopped the rot with a decent home draw to title challengers Liverpool.
It could have been even better, with United heading towards the final five minutes 2-1 up before giving away yet another soft penalty, which was converted by Mo Salah.
It leaves Liverpool in second place on goal difference to Arsenal, whilst United remain in sixth; now 11 points behind Villa but with a game in hand.
fighting spirit after a poor first half
United were dominated by Liverpool in the first half, and it was a small miracle that the score was only 1-0; the excellent Andre Onana making a couple of big saves to keep us within touching distance and Liverpool’s players – particularly Dominik Szoboszlai – missing big chances.
Inevitably, given the pressure we were under, half way through the first half the Scousers were in front through Luis Diaz, who was left in acres of space at the back stick from a corner. United clung on and the half-time whistle was a bit of a relief in all honesty.
The second half started in the same vein, but 5 minutes in Bruno Fernandes had us level out of nowhere, lofting a first-time finish over Kelleher from inside the centre circle after Jarell Quansah’s error.
Getting on terms galvanised United and we looked much more dangerous in the second half, and on 67′ we were ahead from a superb Kobbie Mainoo goal. The young midfielder turned and curled in a beauty that had echoes of Federico Macheda’s famous winning goal against Aston Villa in 2009.
Unfortunately, the win wasn’t to be for United, and a dubious penalty after a foul by the unfortunate Aaron Wan-Bissaka ensured the points were shared.
Manager Erik Ten Hag was both pleased and disappointed with elements of how the afternoon unfolded, and had particular phrase for young Frenchman Willy Kambwala, who had a great game:
“We have very mixed emotions. When you drop 7 points in one week from winning positions we have to blame ourselves for stupid mistakes and we have to learn from it. On the other side I’m very proud, you see we’re improving and the potential in the squad and team is amazing”
“[On the difference between the two halves] First half you already see; Liverpool is dominating the game, but in decisive moments we were losing battles, and especially our young players were not quick enough or convinced they could win them. We encouraged them to step up and do better in the second half and they stepped up and played brilliantly for a long while.
“[On whether we can qualify for the Champions League] I don’t know, but we will keep going and will learn from the moments [that led to us dropping points]. We should have won all our three games this week.
“Willy Kambwala has been training for a while and has progressed very well. He is doing brilliant; had amazing game and the challenge for him now is to do it consistently”
Erik Ten Hag after the game
Youngsters continue to show potential
One of the key themes and major positives from what will probably be viewed as a disappointing season even if we win the FA Cup, is the development of our young players.
The Busby Babes, the Class of ’92; Rooney and Ronaldo’s debuts at 18. Whether they’re academy products or not, United has a rich history of developing young players into superstars.
We’ve sung the praises of Mainoo, Hojlund and Garnacho this season, but another teenager, Willy Kambwala really stepped up to the challenge yesterday. Thrown into a centre-back pairing with Harry Maguire, and part of, amazingly, United’s 27th different defensive line-up this season, it would have been easy to fold under the pressure of the occasion and the quality of the opposition.
Instead, Kambwala was superb; winning 100% of his tackles and ground duels, and registering 3 clearances and 2 interceptions. Without his heroics, Liverpool could have been out of sight at half time.
Kobbie Mainoo will also get plaudits for his good second-half performance and brilliant goal, but this was the game where Willy Kambwala was asked big questions and came up with the right answers.
Player ratings and MOTM
Onana – 7. Made a string of saves, but picked up a daft yellow card for time-wasting.
Dalot – 6. Spent most of the first half defending but did well, and looked dangerous at times in the second half.
Kambwala – 7.5 & MOTM. His first start at Old Trafford. A performance full of blocks, tackles and headers, and a booking too. Didn’t look out of place at all in an unfamiliar partnership.
Maguire – 7. Under a lot of pressure in the first half in an unfamiliar partnership but stood up to it.
Wan-Bissaka – 5. Back out on the left again, did OK but still looks less comfortable than on the right got an assist for Mainoo but gave away the penalty in the 84th minute.
Mainoo – 7.5. Made some mistakes, including for the first Liverpool goal and struggled against a dominant Liverpool midfield in the first half. However, grew into the game and his goal was superb.
Fernandes – 7. Set up an offside goal in the first half, and pulled strings in the second. Took his 50-yard goal superbly well and actually had some good defensive moments too.
Casemiro – 5.5. Some good tackles but struggled to exert control in the first half as Liverpool dominated. Angered the Old Trafford crowd by kicking the ball out due to a Liverpool lower-body injury.
Garnacho – 6. Scored the first-half offside goal, but was otherwise quiet in the first half. Grew into the game after half time and was involved in Mainoo’s goal. Came off on 80′ – managing his minutes or tactical mistake from Ten Hag?
Rasford – 4.5. Didn’t do a great deal and came off injured on 66′.
Hojlund – 5. As in the past few weeks, didn’t look as good as he did in his purple patch a few weeks ago. Struggled against the dominant Van Dyk.
Subs:
Antony (on for Rashford on 66′) – 6.5. Looked decent and had some good attacking moments and committed defensively. Has he earned a place back in the starting line-up for the Bournemouth game?
Amrabat (on for Garnacho on 80′) – 5.5. Hasn’t played much and was brought on to shore things up in midfield, but Liverpool scored shortly after. Looked OK.
Mount (on for Mainoo on 85′) – N/A.
Looking ahead
United play Bournemouth away on Saturday. The Champions League spots look unlikely but are mathematically possible to reach, so all we can do is keep winning and hope for the best.
The week after is the visit to Wembley for the huge FA Cup semi final against Coventry. Will Ten Hag have one eye on that game and rest players? We’ll have to wait and see.
In the meantime, enjoy today’s news, featuring a very bitter Jurgen Klopp!
