Achi news desk-
Key events
81 minutes: All Liverpool now, all United defending. The next ten minutes or so drip with fate.
80 minutes: Ambrabat comes forward for Garnacho, to land in midfield. Good luck with that on Amrabat’s performances so far for United. Onana has been booked for even more trouble with the ball.
79 minutes: More chances at Liverpool. Diaz turns and shoots, Onana parries and Salah lifts the rebound over.
78 minutes: United back in heavy numbers but how organized are they? Liverpool push and probe. Kambwala heads off; he has had a great game, calm in the eye of the storm.
77 minutes: We are approaching the part of the game where Liverpool and United score. Gomez’s shot is deflected into the path of Onana, who saves with some relief and then dallies, much to the annoyance of the away team.
75 minutes: Jeers from the home fans as Liverpool overplay, and Elliot lets the ball run out.
73 minutes: Liverpool look equally ragged and Klopp loses his cool as Kambwala slides in to tackle Gomez. Klopp wanted red rather than the yellow the teenager got.
72 minutes: Kelleher clears the ball with his fist, and in the end Liverpool can go again. They have gone 4-4-2, with Gakpo to flick on for Salah.
71 minutes: There is a scramble in the middle of the field as Hojlund is robbed. And get dirty. United fancy this, Garnacho forces a corner off Gomez.
69 minutes: Nunez doesn’t seem to have exploded or scored. Klopp was left to explode. Understandably, this game would drive anyone crazy.
68 minutes: Jurgen Klopp is absolutely furious by the way. Van Dijk and Quansah are together. Two more Liverpool substitutes: Elliot and Gakpo on, Endo and Nunez off.
A goal! Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool (Mainoo, 67)
All his own work. Mainoo could have passed the ball out to the right, but instead he plays it to Garnacho, and collects the ball, twists and smashes it with his right, and in.
66 minutes: Subs from both teams imminent? Rashford is down, and it looks to be that way for him. Antony will come forward for him. Liverpool will bring on Curtis Jones for Szoboszlai, and Joe Gomez will replace Conor Bradley, who was on booking. Szoboszlai’s death had been increasingly messy.
63 minutes: Garnacho, quiet until now, sets up Bruno for a diving headbutt. And soon enough Liverpool go down the other end, and United somehow smuggle the ball away. This is similar to a game of rugby sevens, the ball speeding from one end to the other.
62 minutes: Nunez is chaotically disruptive, and could either a) explode or b) score.
C) Both are also possibilities.
60 minutes: Kobbie Mainoo is down, having made one of the many blocks asked of United players. It eventually goes up, and then Rashford is offside from a free-kick.
59 minutes: Dalot’s ferocious run sets up a quick United attack, and Rashford’s ball in the box begs to be hit. Kelleher claims with some relief.
57 minutes: United can’t get the ball clear. Great response from Liverpool. Salah is crowded as United defenders swarm. On the sidelines, Klopp is getting angry.
56 minutes: Liverpool trying to step back up, and Wan-Bissaka having to go behind. Casemiro clears the resulting corner.
55 minutes: Liverpool lose. Oh my. Oh my. They have five on two, and Dias plays in Nunez, who can set up Szoboszlai or indeed score. It doesn’t either.
54 minutes: Maguire almost gets to the corner, and then Casemiro pulls in and Kelleher hot potatoes the ball away.
53 minutes: A long, long way to go now. Mainoo escapes, and sets up an attack from which Garnacho forces a corner. United are alive and kicking.
51 minutes: Football, bloody hell red. Liverpool conceded because United weren’t applying any pressure at all and were getting sloppy. What an ending by the way.
A goal! Liverpool 1-1 Manchester United (Bruno Fernandes, 50)
Oh my, oh my. Quansah, under no pressure, plays the ball square to Fernandes and the United captain sees Kelleher off his line and scores from a full 45 yards. What a goal, what a mistake.
50 minutes: Wan-Bissaka pushes away Diaz’s pass. United can’t keep the ball. It’s like they don’t want it…
48 minutes: Harry Maguire tried to make a double block from Nunez and Rashford got away down the other end, only for Quansah to read the danger well. Perhaps Rashford had better look up. “Scanning”, I believe they call it now.
47 minutes: Pete is back in touch: “We were better under Ole. Time to move on now. Make sure Ashworth and Wilcox are done and find out who’s going to be the coach because this is rotten.”
Things went bad under Ole, especially for Ole.
46 minutes: We are back on track. The big news from half-time is that Big Sam Allardyce could be seen talking to Big Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Little Sir Dave Brailsford. “POMO” to be part of Ineos’ master plan.
On the field, Liverpool started the attack.
Gary Byrne links: “While Liverpool’s string of defeats can be upsetting, the thoughts of Pep on his sofa supporting Man Utd soothe the soul.”
There are lies, damned lies and damned statistics.
Half time: Manchester United 0-1 Liverpool
How come Liverpool aren’t leading 5-0? How are United still in it? Were the “setting up midfield” pages missing from Erik ten Hag’s coaching manual? The longer he stays like this, the more nervous Liverpool could get. But then again, if they keep creating chances like this, a second will surely lead.
45+2 mins: Two minutes are added on. The ball has been in play almost continuously. Conor Bradley has a chance to shoot but Wan Bissaka clears. And that’s it.
45 minutes: Bruno Fernandes’ pressing hasn’t been top notch, let’s just say that. United’s three midfield players act as satellites to each other. Older United fans will long for the days when Phil Neville and Nicky Butt anchored the midfield in the absence of Keane and Scholes.
44 minutes: Salah cuts in from his flank, and Onana is alert enough to stop Nunez. It could quite easily be 4-0, maybe more.
42 minutes: Yes, spring United again. Nunez’s flick finds Diaz after Rashford is turned, and another corner leads. Szoboszlai’s corner is cleared rather easily this time.
40 minutes: The TV discourse is that Mainoo is too far forward to throw in, and leaves Casemiro open, and creates that great big gap that Liverpool run again and again.
Luis Diaz is down after a Kambwala tackle. There is a long delay. And a little sympathy from the home fans. His return to fitness receives plenty of boos.
38 minutes: Declan Brennan links up: “Liverpool wasted a lot of chances in the bean cup game a month ago and they were cheated. Does lightning strike twice?”
36 minutes: Another Liverpool shot, another Salah miss. Great combination play sees Salah released by Szoboszlai. A swing and a miss, and it flies over. United are relying on Liverpool to miss chances to stay in the game.
35 minutes: Paul Fitzgerald links: “Fantastic recovery speed from Kambwala, but as is the performance stunt this team loves to do, he might save it for when his team wins/or play well.”
34 minutes: Salah is free after Mainoo loses possession, Diaz’s ball finds the senior player in space, and it gives Onana a chance to save. From the corner, Onana saves money that can be said politely for the cameras. The ball eventually comes out and Nunez hits a shot wide. United, as ever, concede shot after shot after shot.
32 minutes: After 30 minutes of breathless stuff, real calm. “Scouser Tommy” can be heard from Liverpool fans. Their team is going to top the league if it stays like this.
30 minutes: Within seconds, Nunez has beaten Kambwala, only for the youngster to slide in and stop the attack. He turns to the Stretford End and asks for more noise. When did defenders start celebrating tackles? Your job is to channel Roy Keane.
29 minutes: Garnarcho and Nunez go together, and the Uruguay comes off worst, the downward movement of Argentina leads to pain.
27 minutes: United get a free kick, and go close to scoring. Fernandes rushes in, Casemiro arrives, and Hojlund leaps to the ground in the style of Phil Jones a decade ago. It’s ineffective, and Liverpool clearly get it.
25 minutes: Week after week, the shots rain down on Andre Onana’s goal. This time, Robertson’s corner has been cleared, and only justly.
24 minutes: Just as Liverpool turn up the pressure, they score. Just as the pressure comes on United, they acquiesce. That’s two familiar stories wrapped in one. Mainoo let Diaz escape.
A goal! Manchester United 0-1 Liverpool (Diaz, 23)
Szoboszlai’s corner comes in, United players go after Van Dijk, but Nunez arrives and Diaz volleys home.
22 minutes: Phil Horton: “That Liverpool kit is a pure Excel spreadsheet, that’s why it’s so familiar!”
Liverpool meanwhile forced a corner.
21 minutes: Robertson is away down the left, but his shot slips wide. The rain is heavy, even for the M16 0RA postcode.
