Liverpool 4 Manchester United 0
Yet another perfect half of football and the Reds are back on top of the most important perch of all.
Yet another perfect half of football and the Reds are back on top of the most important perch of all.
It was reportedly 25 consecutive passes, but it felt a lot more watching the game live and as far as the blue changed shirts from Manchester United were concerned, it may as well have been 125 passes. It was the 22nd minute of a first half of football that verged on the perfection the Reds produced against United’s neighbours Manchester City just 3 days ago at Wembley in the FA Cup Semi-Final, and it was a move so beloved of my soon to be trademarked “PlayStation Football”. It may only have been 25 passes (officially) and Virgil van Dijk the only Liverpool player not to touch the ball during the move, a sweeping move that rolled back and forth, front to back, back to front, defence, through midfield and into attack, and with the ball barely leaving the lush green grass of Anfield. The passes were mounting by the time Joel Matip set off on one of his galloping and marauding forward runs. His pass was instantly returned by the scorer of the night’s first goal, Luis Diaz, and Matip’s instant forward pass was incredibly turned instantly into the path of Mo Salah by his strike partner, Sadio Mane. Mane’s pass was sublime, for the tight execution and accuracy of a reverse pass played across his body yet perfectly to the feet of Salah who controlled the ball instantly before slotting the ball into the far corner of David de Gea’s Manchester United goal.
22 minutes had passed, Liverpool were already 2–0 up and they were strolling along a road that would lead to an almost peerless first half of football (again), 3 points that would take them top of the Premier League and simply tearing apart, time and time again, their oldest and fiercest domestic rivals.
The Reds first goal on 5 minutes was the stereotypically sublime to the ridiculous. The sublime was the simplicity with which Liverpool tore Manchester United apart down their right hand side. Trent Alexander-Arnold started the move with an incisive pass to Skipper Jordan Henderson who’s first time pass found Sadio Mane on the halfway line. He released both Alexander-Arnold and Mo Salah sprinting down the right flank with Salah reaching the ball first and his perfect first time cross was met by Luis Diaz who had the simplest and easiest of tap in goals. The ridiculous was two fold: (1) With Salah, Alexander-Arnold and Diaz all sprinting forward it was attack versus defence and a 3 v 2 situation that completely and easily undressed Manchester United and (2) the visitors from Manchester were already a dishevelled mess and the game was only 5 minutes old.
The superiority Liverpool enjoyed within this (almost) perfect half of football was exemplified by those damned statistics again, and the damning numbers that their visitors had 1 (ONE) touch of the ball within the Reds penalty area, 1 corner (ONE) and a lucky one that came to nothing and 2 resounding 0’s.
Zero shots off target. Zero shots on target.
On the other side of the ball, Liverpool were supreme. Their high defensive line was never troubled and led by their Skipper Jordan Henderson as well as another otherworldly performance yet again from Man of the Match Thiago Alcantara, Diaz, Fabinho, Salah and Mane all hunted in packs when not in possession of the ball and when they were, Liverpool simply, and majestically, played their oldest adversaries off the park.
The game failed to settle after the Half-Time break and the opening 15 minutes of the 2nd half was as well as Manchester United played all game. Their best move of the game ended with a tame and scuffed effort from substitute Jadon Sancho and this was followed shortly thereafter by a brilliant double save from Reds goalkeeper Alisson Becker as he denied both Anthony Elanga and Marcus Rashford in quick succession. The offside flag had been raised but neither Elanga, Rashford nor Becker knew this at the time and thus making the Reds goalkeeper’s double save all the more impressive.
On the hour mark Liverpool regained complete control of the game and it was no surprise when Sadio Mane scored a deserved 3rd goal and a worthy return for yet another impeccable display in a Liverpool shirt from the Senegalese striker. Andy Robertson had a wonderful 2nd half and it was his tackle that started the move for Mane’s goal as he strode forward before releasing Luis Diaz. His square ball was glided into the far corner of the Manchester United net with the minimum of fuss before with 5 minutes to go Liverpool rounded off the most perfect of performances with yet another goal that exemplified their display. Manchester United Captain Harry Maguire simply had nowhere to go as Liverpool pressed and pressed his team in his own half and his sloppy ball was gifted away and found it’s way to Diogo Jota. The Reds simply wouldn’t let a bedraggled and woeful Manchester United out of their own half and when Jota secured the ball the tackles were weak and ineffective (or non-existent) before his pass reached Mo Salah. It was a scruffy finish in all honesty but the Egyptian King saluted the adoring Reds at the Kop End of Anfield as only he can, and yet another mauling had been inflicted on their fiercest rivals from Manchester, and a 9–0 aggregate thumping over the season.
So from a huge bagful of points behind Manchester City and Reds all over social media conceding the Title before their Christmas turkeys had even seen the inside of their ovens, Liverpool are now back on the perch a famous ex Manchester United Manager was so pleased at knocking them from a decade or so ago. With 6 league games to go, the Reds have a 2 point lead over United’s pale blue shirted neighbours at Manchester City and they remain in every competition in which they entered at the start of this remarkable season. A two-legged European Cup victory over Villareal will ensure this remarkable season will see a fittingly remarkable team fulfil every single possible fixture, and I wouldn’t bet against the “PlayStation Football” continuing around the fields of Anfield Road for some considerable time to come.
Thanks for reading. There are numerous articles on Liverpool FC within my archives and I’ve linked below the three most recently published:
7 European trips following the Mighty Reds of Liverpool
Volume 6: Bayer Leverkusen, Champions League Quarter-Final, 2nd Leg, 7th to 11th April, 2002.medium.com
Manchester City 2 Liverpool 3
A perfect half of football and “the best we ever played” takes the Reds into the FA Cup Final in May.medium.com
Liverpool 3 Benfica 3
Heavy Metal football? More a slow, slow, quick, quick slow foxtrot into the last 4 of the European Cup.medium.com