With Carlos Henrique Casemiro as a witness in the stands, Manchester United found its best version, buried its negative streak in the English classic, and showcased itself against Liverpool, who only posed a threat at the end and languishes in the Premier League standings.
Carlos Henrique Casemiro's arrival at Old Trafford is a new incentive for the Manchester fans, a hope for an audience that has seen nothing but bad news for their team in recent times and needs motivation. He brought luck to the Dutchman Erik Ten Hag's team, who played their best game of the recent season.
They did so without Cristiano Ronaldo, who was a substitute and only came on in the 85th minute when the game reopened with Mohamed Salah's goal and Liverpool cornered Manchester, unexpectedly at the bottom of the standings after the embarrassing defeats against Brighton and Brentford.
At the opportune moment, United took advantage of the visit of its biggest rival to take off and transfer doubts to its opponent.
Liverpool had gone eight games without losing to Manchester United. Five victories and three draws summed up their recent face-to-face encounters. The Old Trafford team always left the field embarrassed when facing the Reds, who were unbeatable.
But United put an end to the streak in a grand manner, with great motivation and guided by all the talent that seemed hidden. It accentuates Liverpool's crisis, which has not tasted victory so far this season - it could only draw against Fulham and Crystal Palace - and suffered its first Premier League loss in 2022. It was unrecognizable.
Far from offering a hesitant and depressing start conditioned by the two defeats in their first two matches, Manchester United overwhelmed Liverpool with a high-paced rhythm that the visitors took a while to assimilate.
It seemed like the lineup established by Erik Ten Hag, without Cristiano Ronaldo or the center-back Harry Maguire, who paid the price for the thrashing against Brentford, wanted to impress Luis Henrique Casemiro, who was seated in the stands of his new stadium after strolling on the pitch in the pre-match to greet his fervent fans.
Manchester United completely outplayed Jurgen Klopp's team, which did not have the Uruguayan Darwin Núñez, who was suspended, the Portuguese Diogo Jota, or the Spanish midfielder Thiago Alcántara, who were injured.
Opportunities piled up in Liverpool's area. The young Swede Anthony Elanga was a force down his flank, the left, and it was from there that he found a good chance. Within ten minutes, United could have scored from a loose ball on the edge of the area that Bruno Fernandes reached first and passed to Elanga, who shot against the post with Alisson beaten.
Six minutes later, the first goal arrived. Elanga was left alone on the left and sent the ball into the heart of the area. There was Jadon Sancho, who displayed all his talent to finish perfectly. He controlled the ball and James Milner fell to the ground from the attacker's feints. Virgil Van Dijk did not react, and the local player placed the shot into the net.
There were no signs of life from Liverpool. Mohamed Salah was missing. Luis Díaz was also absent, and Roberto Firmino did not receive the ball. A free kick by Chrsitian Eriksen could have meant the second for the home team, but Alisson was alert.
Klopp's team woke up in the final stages before halftime when Manchester United began to feel the effort of their intensity. They could have equalized through a mishap. A poor clearance by Bruno Fernandes was prevented from becoming an own goal by Argentine Lisandro Martínez, who cleared the ball off the goal line.
Ten Hag revitalized his attack and made changes during halftime. He took off Elanga, one of the standout players. But he did not turn to Cristiano. He brought on Anthony Martial, and with his first touch, he set up United's second goal. He played a through ball to Rashford, who broke away on a counterattack and beat Alisson once again.
The match went crazy. United could have scored a third goal, inspired while Liverpool and their coach were overwhelmed, without resources, without a solution. They only pushed by inertia, without sense and without demanding anything from David De Gea until the 82nd minute when they conceded Mohamed Salah's goal, who took advantage of a rebound from a great save after a shot by Fabio Carvalho.
Source: EFE
Ver noticia en El Comercio: DT