Football has a remarkable habit of making fools of us all.
When it was pointed out after Liverpool’s surprise draw against Crystal Palace last Monday that Manchester United could go above Liverpool if it beat Jürgen Klopp’s side, it was with a smirk. Even after Liverpool’s patchy start to the season, such a thing seemed implausible. After all, United had beaten Liverpool only once in the last 12 league meetings, Liverpool had lost only one game—the Champions League final—all year and United had produced probably its worst performance in half a century at Brentford last Saturday. And yet United was good value for its 2–1 win.
United was quicker, slicker, tougher than Liverpool. It took its goals with efficiency, playing with the sort of verve on the counter that used to characterize it on the good days under Ole Gunnar Solskjær—before the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo and his static approach to center-forward play led to an unhelpful rethink. Notably, having got into such trouble last week against Brentford trying to pass out from the back, David de Gea took every goal-kick long. Given how uncomfortable the Spanish keeper is with the ball at his feet, that was probably a necessary compromise, but it is probably not a long-term solution for Erik ten Hag if he is to have United play remotely in the same way his Ajax did.
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But that is for the future. After such a miserable few weeks, this was a much-needed win. Leaving out both the club captain Harry Maguire and the club’s highest earner Cristiano Ronaldo, ten Hag made two major calls in his starting XI. Maguire has been in dismal form while Ronaldo is reported to have been a disruptive presence as he tries to negotiate his departure. It’s not coincidence, some have said, that Maguire, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho thrived in Ronaldo’s absence on the preseason tour but became intimidated when Ronaldo re-joined the squad.
ten Hag explained Ronaldo’s absence by noting his comparative lack of match-readiness after a truncated preseason and explaining the importance of pace in forward areas. He almost got his reward as Anthony Elanga, running onto a Bruno Fernandes hook-tackle-come-pass, slammed a first-time shot against the post. He did get his reward six minutes later with a superb goal, a slick passing move culminating in Sancho turning coolly in the box, waiting until space opened up and then dispatching his shot into the bottom corner.
The second came eight minutes into the second half, Virgil van Dijk giving the ball away cheaply and the substitute Anthony Martial releasing Rashford to smack in his first league goal since January. Self-belief apparently restored, Rashford then drew a scrambling save from Alisson with a crafty, poked effort through a crowd of players.
Liverpool did rally to an extent, pulling one back through Mohamed Salah with 10 minutes remaining, but in that first half hour, its defending was dreadful. Trent Alexander-Arnold, not for the first time, struggled against a quick wide forward, as United appeared to target him, while van Dijk was weirdly passive for the goal, giving Sancho time to pick his spot when it seemed to he could have backed up James Milner’s attempt to block—a point the 36-year-old angrily made to him. Such a totem for Liverpool since his arrival, van Dijk had also been curiously diffident as Wilfried Zaha scored for Crystal Palace last week.
With Thiago Alcântara injured, Naby Keïta ill and Fabinho fit enough only for a place on the bench, Liverpool looked short of options in midfield. This was an oddly passive performance; unless there is a rapid improvement, its hopes of a title challenge could be over before it plays Manchester City in October.
Not all is well at Old Trafford, though, as was made clear by the mass protests before kickoff, angry fans marching to the stadium and chanting protest songs against the Glazers.
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Liverpool fans, delighting as ever in their rivals’ misfortune, wore Glazer masks and chanted in support of United’s unpopular owners. The owners have at least paid some heed to the dissatisfaction the poor start to the season has prompted, repainting the outside of one end of the stadium and agreeing to the purchase of Casemiro, who was paraded before kickoff.
One win, even one over Liverpool, one more signing and a splash of paint, though, should not obscure just how little investment in infrastructure there has been under the Glazers and just how much money has been drained from the club. But for the first time in a long time, this was a good day for United.
