It was redemption day for Manchester United as Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford powered the Red Devils to a 2-1 win over Liverpool at Old Trafford. Man United looked like an inspired team after losing their first two matches, passing the ball around the park in the first 20 minutes to lead to Sancho’s emphatic opener. The intensity against an injured Liverpool team that has yet to win a game this season was hard to match as Erik ten Hag’s squad made it the half with a one-goal lead. They were hanging on by the skin of their teeth as Lisandro Martinez made a goal-line clearance to prevent a Bruno Fernandes own goal.
Not to get complacent, ten Hag subbed on Anthony Martial for Anthony Elanga at the half and it paid dividends. Martial assisted United’s second goal in the 51st minute. Mohamed Salah got one back after a shot attempt from Fabio Carvalho late but the game was out of reach. With the win, United finally kick-start the ten Hag era with three points in front of their home fans, who were treated to Casemiro’s presentation before the game, and their first goal from open play.
Liverpool, meanwhile, are left to pick up the pieces after three games without a win and a performance to forget at Old Trafford as they were outworked on every area of the pitch. Anthony Elanga rattling the post from the first whistle should’ve been a wake-up call for the Reds. Sancho was later given too much time in the box.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was targeted after getting a yellow card for taking down Elanga and appeared to look like someone who was thinking twice on just about every defensive challenges available. Without the protection of Fabinho and with Joe Gomez making his first start since April of 2022, the defense was in shambles. Liverpool did the have attacking chances to try to steal a point on the road. They rattled off 17 shots but with Roberto Firmino not offering a threat filling in for Darwin Nunez — who still has two more matches to serve in his headbutt suspension — things were too predictable and United managed to block everything in sight, leaving ten Hag rather upbeat in his postgame interview overseas.
“We can talk about technical, but it’s all about attitude. Now you see we bring the attitude on the pitch,” he said to Sky Sports. “There was communication, there was a fighting spirit and, especially, there was a team and you can see what they can achieve. Because they can f—ing play football.”
When it comes to attitude, it’s important to note that captain Harry Maguire and the Portuguese castaway Cristiano Ronaldo were dropped from the starting lineup. The attack was expansive with willing runners to play the ball to while the defense was stout without needing to accommodate Maguire’s lack of pace. With a few more performances like this, they could be deemed surplus to requirements along with Luke Shaw after Tyrell Malacia contained Salah, who still managed to find the back of the net late in the proceedings.
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What a difference this front three makes
The trio of Sancho, Rashford, and Elanga/Martial took care of all the necessary attacking damage to deliver a blow to Liverpool. Sancho and Rashford did the scoring while Elanga and Martial dished the assists. Rashford, in particular, was a man inspired with five shots as a central striker instead of his usual left wing position to accommodate Ronaldo. Martial created two chances when he came on while also assisting Rashford’s goal. But more importantly, Rashford still has confidence in his shot.
They were also solid defensively tracking back to prevent Liverpool from overloading the defense which is something that can’t be done with Ronaldo in the side. Much has been made about sprinting numbers over the week after United were outrun by Brentford but based on the work rate they showed against Liverpool, ten Hag ball needs the team to sprint to make his system work. It does make me wonder if Casemiro will be asked to run when he is introduced into the team since he’s a different type of midfielder than McTominay but allowing him to sit deep could allow the team in front of him to be more expansive as well.
Liverpool still reeling from Thiago’s absence
Liverpool are struggling to create from deep which makes their crosses too predictable. Harvey Elliott got forward with four shots, but between him, Jordan Henderson and James Milner, only four chances were created. The only through ball of the day came from Alexander-Arnold as Liverpool were unable to get the ball into space the way they would like to beat Manchester United over the top.
Salah did what he could in attack, but before the transfer window closes it would make sense for the Reds to add another midfielder. Jude Bellingham has been a name linked to them but it may be hard to secure the services of a super young (19 years old), talented central midfielder with just over a week left in the transfer window. For now, a formation change to a 4-2-3-1 to give more freedom to Elliott or Fabio could make sense. Carvalho seems like the best option to open up the attack, but that would likely require moving Salah to center forward while dropping Firmino to the bench. It’s a lot of change for the Reds but a shakeup is needed at this stage.
A budding defensive partnership
Raphel Varane and Lisandro Martinez were impressive in defense for Manchester United. Between them, they made 16 clearances as they attacked the ball. More importantly, they didn’t dive into tackles to make themselves vulnerable to the oncoming Liverpool attack. Martinez’s anticipation was also on full display as he blocked three shots in the game to protect David De Gea in net. Martinez had a rough start being withdrawn at halftime of the Brentford match, but while he did less with the ball at his feet against Liverpool, he did n’t need much time on the ball to show his effectiveness.
With Harry Maguire staying on the bench, the next few matches will be important to see what his role is at Manchester United. The team captain could be sent to the bench for the foreseeable future if the current back four continues to perform well. It’ll be quite a fall for Maguire and a blow to the England national team setup, but considering his team’s latest performances, it’s a change that might need to happen.