Neither Manager Happy After 1-1 Draw

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Manchester United vs Liverpool is always one of the biggest club matches in the Premier League and Europe.  This season, the fixture took on extra significance as Liverpool hoped to stay in touch with Chelsea at the top of the table and Manchester United were looking to take advantage of Manchester City’s heavy defeat at Everton.  However, the match finished 1-1, with the points shared, leaving both managers with the feeling of an opportunity missed.

Manchester United had been on a great run of form, undefeated in fifteen matches and having won their previous nine in a row. Jose Mourninho was hoping the momentum his team had built up, would take them over the line. As for Liverpool, they had been struggling of late, having failed to win any of their last three and Jurgen Klopp would probably have taken a point before the match started.

However, it was Liverpool who took the lead in the match, following some shambolic defending from Paul Pogba, who had an afternoon to forget. His handball in the box lead to a penalty for Liverpool, which was tucked away by James Milner. Prior to this, Manchester United had created the best chance of the match but Pogba fluffed his lines when through on goal, scuffing his shot wide of the post. In truth, Manchester United created the best chances in the match, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan twice going through on goal.  One shot was saved by Simon Mignolet and the second opportunity was squandered due to a heavy touch, which saw the Armenian play the ball across goal and through Anthony Martial’s legs.

With the introduction of Philippe Coutinho, Liverpool started to pose a threat on the counter and Roberto Firmino had their best chance of the game but shot at David de Gea.  Mourinho threw on Marouane Fellaini and Manchester started to go long. The pressure eventually paid dividends when Antonio Valencia crossed following a Fellaini header and Zlatan Ibrahimovic produced a fantastic header of his own, to get the ball over Mignolet and into the Liverpool net. Both teams looked for a winner towards the end but neither could make the breakthrough and a draw was probably a fair result, although Manchester United may feel they created more chances to win the match.

It was interesting to hear the two managers speak after the match, with Klopp talking about how his team played the better football and Manchester United resorted to play the long ball game. However, he should know getting results is about more than playing the better football. You must create chances and as Liverpool put men behind the ball in the second half, Mourinho responded by brining on Fellaini and going direct, a tactic which worked.

Both managers are going to back up their own claims and believe they are correct.  Yes, Liverpool led for much of the game and having taken the lead, looked to play on the break, creating a nice chance for Firmino. On the other hand, Manchester United created the better chances throughout the 90 minutes and the tactical change, whether it looked pleasing on the eye or not, worked form them.

There were both positive and negative aspects to take away from the match for both teams.  Manchester United were not at their best and they will need to improve with Stoke away coming up. However, they showed great resilience and desire to get back in the game and this will stand them in good stead for the remainder of the season.  Liverpool’s tactics were spot-on for much of the match but they failed to cope with the long ball game in the final 10 minutes, something, especially given Klopp’s interview after the match, other teams will have noted.