Manchester United forgets its crisis at the expense of a poor Liverpool

The 'Red Devils', who had not won the 'reds' in the league since March 2018, win 2-1 showing their best version of the course

   MADRID, 22 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Manchester United added their first victory in the Premier League on Monday, after beating Liverpool (2-1) in the match corresponding to the third day, thus forgetting their crisis at the expense of a poor Liverpool, also diminished by casualties, and with Cristiano Ronaldo coming off the bench in the second half.

United, with Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench -he jumped onto the pitch with less than ten minutes to go- and Casemiro -a brand new signing for Ten Hag's men- in the stands, began with control of the ball and being the protagonist at Old Trafford. Thus, Anthony Elanga had the first chance in the 9th minute, with a shot to the post after several disconnections from Liverpool's central defenders, Joe Gomez and Virgil Van Dijk.

First warning from the locals, needed after the first two defeats against Brigthon and Brentford, who got their reward just six minutes later, when Jadon Sancho, after a pass from Elanga, had enough patience to step on the ball inside the area, dribbling and shoot to get past Alisson and lay the first stone on the road to the first victory of the course.

The goal did not wake up Liverpool, who was still just as inaccurate, in their darkest game of the season. Without Darwin Núñez, sanctioned, the 'reds' noticed the lack of a reference in attack, with Roberto Firmino showing a very poor level, perhaps infected by the bad performance of the team led by Juergen Klopp.

The clearest chance for Liverpool came from Bruno Fernandes, who came close to putting the ball in his own goal with a point-blank shot that Lisandro Martínez took from the line.

Already in the second half, United took advantage of the most advanced line of Klopp's men, aware that they needed to take a step forward. Thus, Anthony Martial, who had entered the field after the break, launched a counterattack with an excellent pass to Marcus Rashford, who defined the near post to make it 2-0 on the scoreboard. This second goal gave peace and security to Ten Hag's team.

Liverpool still couldn't find the key and the entry of Fabinho and Carvalho did not improve the 'reds' unable to overcome a David De Gea who completed a great performance with stops at key moments. Already in the 81st minute, Mohamed Salah took advantage of a rebound from the Spanish goalkeeper, who had made a great stretch, to bring his team closer to equalizing with a header in the small area. However, with Cristiano Ronaldo already on the field, United stood firm and did not give up any dangerous chances to score their first win.

The 'Red Devils' rise to fourteenth position in the table with three points, while Liverpool still have not won and remain with two points, close to relegation, in sixteenth place.