United and another unconvincing performance! It wouldn’t go on like this

The derby between Manchester United and Liverpool ended in a 2:2 draw.Klopp’s side only matched Arsenal’s points gain and are now tied for 1st place. United fans must have had Wednesday’s memories in front of their eyes during the last minutes. A draw is certainly a gain for the home side, but a loss for the away side.

United made the most of nothing

From a home perspective, the 1st half was reminiscent of the days under Ole Gunnar Solskjær. In his coaching “era” the Red Devils against Liverpool or Manchester City often did not cross their own half for the whole half, waiting for quick breaks. This time, although the home side at least had some effort to play forward, but 0 shots in the whole half is trivial.

Apart from the opening of the game when Alejandro Garnacho went alone on goal the home side didn’t create anything. Their attempts at attacking action often ended in inaccurate passes. Although Rashford and Garnacho tried to make quick penetrations on the edges of the pitch, the visiting central defenders did not deal with any difficult situation. Rashford in particular should have taken advantage of Bradley’s early yellow card.

If Fernandes and co want to think about the Champions League, they need to up their performance rapidly. Although the stats were even in the 2nd half, Liverpool could have decided the game on several occasions. Fernandes’ goal was more due to a mistake by Quensah than any quality by United, of course the finishing was superb. The goal by Kobbie Maine was also part of a mistake by the visiting defence, he was given plenty of space to turn the ball and finish with a snappy finish.

The last few minutes of the game were reminiscent of the action at Stamford Bridge. Manchester were just defending and it was a matter of time before the penalty came. The equalising goal came after a completely unnecessary tackle by Wan-Bissako. Elliot was in no danger at the moment of the slip, and Wan-Bissaka could only push the opponent away. United can take the point with all ten points as they once again failed to produce a convincing performance

Liverpool played the action or scored the goals

During the first half the game could have been over. United couldn’t find a recipe for Liverpool’s defence and often stopped offensive action only by Onana. Darwin Núñez burned several chances, Luis Díaz also had several opportunities. But the home side knew very well where the biggest threat would come from. Mohamed Salah had little space apart from one finish.

During the 2nd half, Liverpool were looking for Salah at the end of every action. To no avail. both Bradley and Szoboszlai were in great positions on several occasions, yet they kept looking for Salah. So many times it was too much, in some situations the players would have done better to go for the finish themselves as there was always someone standing by Salah. The home defence blocked several good attempts as they made the opposition well available.

Núñez had the best chance of the second act. It was the Uruguayan cannonballer who was on the scoresheet when Salah found him at the back post after a quick counter-attack. However, the finish was more like a pass than a direct shot. Luis Díaz burned another huge chance in stoppage time when, completely unguarded, he shot over Onan’s goal from the space between the small area and the penalty spot.

The loss of points may be especially frustrating for Liverpool in the title chase. Indeed, the draw made the relegation trio at the top of the Premier League even more even. Liverpool and Arsenal are level on points, with rival Manchester City just a point behind. So fans of the Anfield club can only hope that the missed chances from Old Trafford will not cost them the title.

Source: Premier League