There was a moment in the second half that caught my eye in the second half. After Salah scored to halve to deficit for Liverpool, Bruno Fernandez went held onto the ball and refused to give it to the liverpool players. It eventually turned into an argument that the referee had to get involved. Now my readers would tell me there have been many instances of players fighting for their team. What’s the big deal?
Before I answer that, lets take a look at how the match panned out. The squad was drastically different to the one that started at brentford. Captain Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, and Cristiano Ronaldo were the high profile players dropped. In their place Raphael Varane, Tyrell Malacia, and Anthony Elanga started for the hosts. These changes paid off as Man Utd looked like they were at war from beginning. They challenged for everything and were winning every second ball. They were causing problems for Liverpool with their high press, something that usually doesn’t happen.
Their persistence paid off in the 16th minute as Sancho found himself unmarked in the penalty area. A cool bit of skill ensured man utd were 1-0 up. Liverpool played better after that but were unable to find a breakthrough. In the second half, manager Erik Ten Hag brought on Martial for Elanga. Again, the move paid off as Martial assisted Rashford for a well taken second goal. Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson was culpable for this as his poor pass was intercepted by Martial who played Rashford through. This goal effectively killed the game. Even a late goal by Salah could not inspire Liverpool to prevent a loss. They never looked likely to score in the form they were.
Erik Ten Hag picked his team to perfection and the changes he made had an impact as well. He ditched his ideals in a must win game and had David De Gea launch long balls. They played how they used to under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with one marked difference – the high press. The last time man utd tried to press high against liverpool, they were hit for 5 goals. This time the press was effective and all credit to manager Erik Ten Hag who put the success of the team over his ideals. He also made bold decisions to drop some senior players and not to drop Lisandro Martinez. Martinez repaid that faith with a man of the match performance and showed why the top clubs in Europe wanted him despite his height. Tyrell Malacia in his first full start for the club, ensured the best attacker and the best right back in the league were in his pocket. Salah and Trent Alexander Arnold could not get a peak in and the space left by them was exploited successfully. This man utd fought like never before and outran liverpool, something that doesn’t usually happen. Jurgen Klopp got his midfield selection all wrong and clearly missed the presence of Darwin Nunez who was suspended. While man utd played well, their victory was more down to Liverpool’s poor display. It would not be a surprise if they reverted back to type next week against Southampton.
So what’s the big deal about Bruno Fernandez holding on to the ball and refusing to let go? Its the first time in a long time that anyone has seen man utd players so riled up and looking to confront their opponents. One can only hope they keep up this intensity throughout the campaign.
