United vs Liverpool. Very few matches are bigger than this one within world football. There was inevitably the regular sense of anticipation amongst the United contingent (especially following the impressive midweek comeback against Atalanta), though recent domestic results culminated in some dread for what was to come. How would they fare in their first 'big six' encounter of the season?
Jurgen Klopp's side arrived at Old Trafford unbeaten in 18 league matches and on a run of scoring three or more goals in eight consecutive matches on the road in all competitions, whilst Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men were winless in three league matches having kept only a single clean sheet in their last 21 matches overall.
Solskjaer opted for an unchanged starting side, sparking some concern given their underperformance in the first half against Atalanta in midweek. Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire maintained their spots at the back for United for mow, though there is possibility that Raphael Varane could return against Spurs next Saturday. Fred did arrive separately as was expected due to Covid-19 restrictions enforced due to his international exploits to a 'red list' country, with the Brazilian overcoming a minor muscular issue to start alongside Scott McTominay once again. Although both were marked as doubtful after the Champions League victory on Wednesday, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford overcame their own niggles to start. Mason Greenwood was favoured to Jadon Sancho again, with Paul Pogba joining the latter on the bench. Edinson Cavani is still searching for his first start above Cristiano Ronaldo since the draw against Everton prior to the international break.
For Liverpool, Ibrahima Konate was preferred to Joel Matip alonside Virgil van Dijk due to his superior pace against the likes of Marcus Rashford. Fabinho missed out entirely in midfield, with Naby Keita lining up alongside experienced English duo Jordan Henderson and James Milner. Diogo Jota started as Sadio Mane dropped to the bench, with the Portuguese international joining Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah across the front line.
Although there were some promising passages strung together, United were often quite disjointed in the opening exchanges against a very organised Liverpool side. Amidst the plethora of wayward passes, it was the home side who managed to function the best early opportunity. A slick move commenced as Fred threaded Ronaldo through into space, with a first time ball played into Greenwood and then onto Fernandes; facing down Alisson, the midweek man of the match blazed over the crossbar.
Creating such a good chance so early in proceedings was something positive to build on, but instead United were left to rue it after only six minutes played.
Keita justified his selection for the visitors, giving them a prompt advantage on their arch rivals' own stomping ground. It all came from an astonishingly uncoordinated press, stemming from Wan-Bissaka and Greewnood both being dragged into the same area. Therefore, Lindelof had to cover out of position and Maguire was dragged out from his berth. Shaw was left two-on-one with Salah and Keita, with the former slotting the latter clean through to slot past David de Gea. It was a systematic shambles from United, with the defence left exposed by a woefully executed high pressing approach. The simplicity for Liverpool was criminal.
One clean sheet in 21 for United.
Soon after, the defence was again pulled apart in similar fashion. This time around, Keita played Firmino in on goal; De Gea denied the Brazilian, crucially. There were subsequent sighters for both Salah and Rashford, but it was Liverpool who had more of the ball and inflicted growing discomfort on the United back line. The travelling side were well-drilled both in and out of possession, whilst the hosts' system was (again) dysfunctional.
Simplicity was a keyword again moments after the Liverpool opener, with the doubling of their lead essentially a gift. From a United front, it was an utter disaster of a goal to concede. A relatively untroubling ball from the Liverpool left from Andy Robertson saw Maguire collide with Shaw and allow the ball to wriggle free to Keita; involved again, the Guinean played Trent Alexander-Arnold into a crossing area to provide the free Jota with a simple tap into the gaping goal on the slide.
It was a horror start for those in red, and there was an increasing struggle for the home fans to remain positive. An air of hostility was brewing.
It was continually easy for Liverpool to pass around United given the amounts of space left to exploit, with the intended pressing approach clearly lacking any quality planning and therefore coming across as indisciplined. But for rare instances, the players seemed to lack any real fighting intent. Body language was again an issue - they looked down and out after a mere 15 minutes. Should we have been surprised? At the end of the day, it was the same side that were ripped to shreds by Atalanta.
There were minimal clear cut opportunities for United, with any better chances which were engineered barely ever materialising. Shaw saw a distant effort fly just just wide of the post, with Alisson left untroubled by a Greenwood effort from range - two attempts which summed up Solskjaer's side. A distinct lack of support for one another in the final third really prevented any real progress on a far too frequent basis, with a real erratic nature about most moves. Some threat was offered, but too many passes were misjudged and efforts squandered.
United's infliction of danger was miniscule compared to Liverpool's, with every chance the visitors managed to create a golden goalscoring opportunity. You can't take away from Klopp's side's quality, but it was being made far too easy for them. Salah's sharpness was frightening, almost converting for Liverpool's third but for De Gea again; Rashford essentially played a through ball to send the Egyptian one-on-one with the Spaniard, with Maguire beaten in a foot race to allow the eventual opportunity before the ball was taken slightly too wide.
The tactical indecisiveness from the United defence was shocking, with the same wholly uncoordinated pressing approach at fault for Liverpool's third goal as halftime begun to loom. Initially, it was porosity in the midfield which allowed an intricate opposing passage to progress. Close behind, the defence were incredibly close together - with such a narrow setup leaving space for Keita to pick up an eventual ricochet inside the area. Salah wasn't followed into the box promptly enough after the failed United intervention, getting on the end of Keita's square ball to finish.
Solskjaer and his side were being found out. As soon as they faced a 'proper', stronger team, they were exposed for weaknesses which they had previosuly just about coped with. There was no idea behind the approach, and that was blatant.
It wasn't even halftime, and some fans were headed for the exit doors.
United were alright on the ball at times, but again it was distinct mediocrity. Even though they weren't at the best and their starting side was slightly secondary, Liverpool were the dominant force by some stretch. Why? They were well-drilled, whilst United were playing as though semi-blind.
It almost got worse just before the break, with Ronaldo kicking out at substitute Curtis Jones (who replaced the injured Milner). Thankfully for United, the presence of the ball prevented their number seven from being dismissed. Heads were being lost before the opening 45' was even up.
Things didn't worsen for United moments earlier, but there was still time before the pause. A catastrophic half was capped off with yet another Liverpool goal. Four. Salah, again. Terrible defending, again. This time, members of the defence were simply magnetised to the ball such was the deficiency of their attempted press. The back line were then ultimately dragged across and out of position again following some missed tackles, with Salah allowed to float free and finish easy as can be following more fluid passing from Liverpool.
The halftime whistle was greeted with resounding boos for the second consecutive match at the Theatre of Dreams. Lets be frank, though, it was the Theatre on Nightmares for United fans on Sunday. For the first time in Premier League history, United trailed by four goals to nil at halftime. Ouch.
The players looked lost throughout the period, clueless as to how they were supposed to organise themselves and approach the match. Latterly, there was seemingly no idea amongst the group as to how to respond to such severe adversity.
Come the second half, it would be an approach of damage limitation for United. Damage limitation for Manchester United. Damage limitation for Manchester United, against Liverpool. Standards have dropped staggeringly.
Pogba was introduced at halftime in place of Greenwood, shifting alongside McTominay and Fred centrally as Rashford and Ronaldo formed a partnership up front. The task faced was near enough impossible, but everyone would've expected more than the hardly half-hearted effort that Solskjaer's side gave towards any form of response. It was far from the United way.
Nothing changed. Within the blink of an eye, Liverpool had a fifth. Five goals against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Pogba's influence was not that which was desired, his first impact the loss of possession in the middle of the park against an efficient opposing press. Captain Henderson subsequently played an incisive pass in behind both Maguire and Shaw as United's left side of defence was exposed again, with Salah finishing with serene composure for a hat-trick. It was only the second Premier League hat-trick scored by a Liverpool player against United, and how easy was it for the league's top scorer?
Disarray. Solskjaer was out of ideas - his United side were all over the show. It was the most amateur of displays from one of the world's strongest squads. They were down and out.
One man did take some ownership though, and that was Ronaldo of course. Maguire played a classy dink over to the Portuguese, who cut inside and fired low past Alisson. Just United's luck, Robertson was adjudged to have played Ronaldo offside on the far side by a VAR intervention. No goal.
Aside from that single instant, United were getting absolutely nowhere in possession; they were flat in every aspect, with dejection visible amidst the embarrassment endured. By the hour mark, United had six men in the book as frustration took control. However, one of the yellows awarded wasn't set in stone. Halftime substitute Pogba rather flew in at Keita with his studs showing, hence VAR wanted a look. Red. United were down to ten men just as they thought things wouldn't get worse. The Frenchman didn't even last 15 minutes, with Keita forced to leave on a stretcher thanks to the admittedly poor challenge.
Discipline was nowhere in any aspect of the game from United. In fact, they ended the match with a record amount of cards in a Premier League match (with six yellows and a red).
The mass Old Trafford exodus continued throughout the half, with Gary Neville even querying as to whether he could join them whilst on commentary for Sky Sports. The scenes were not pretty.
From Pogba's dismissal onwards, every ounce of United's emphasis was concentrated on defending. They really had resorted to damage limitation. Diogo Dalot was called upon for United in place of Fernandes, with Solskjaer converting to a back five. McTominay and Fred's presence essentially meant seven men behind the ball, with Cavani often dropping deep after replacing Rashford. Neither the aforementioned Uruguayan or Ronaldo could get on the ball, at all. The bus was parked, five goals adrift.
Those who left the stadium couldn't bare to watch, but there wasn't really much to watch for the remainder anyway. The half dragged and dragged from a United standpoint, with Liverpool just able to pass the ball around as their rivals sat deep. It was men against boys.
One moment of excitement came as Cavani struck the crossbar following a tangle with Robertson as McTominay headed across goal following a Dalot cross.
The game really just petered out in the end. From stark title contenders a matter of weeks ago, United are now level on points with Arsenal and Leicester - who had appalling starts to the season. It was a dark, dark day at Old Trafford.
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