Manchester United 2 Liverpool 2 Match Report: Arsenal are back at the top of the Premier League standings following Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at Manchester United on Sunday.
The Reds missed the chance to return to the Premier League summit after being held to a 2-2 draw in a breathless encounter with arch-rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Following their ridiculous 4-3 loss to Chelsea midweek, United boss Erik ten Hag said pre-match that his players would be positive and be in the mood to turn things around.
With this in mind, his players almost got off to an electric start and netted within two minutes after Bruno Fernandes played Alejanrdo Garnacho through on goal and the Argentine forward rounded Caoimhin Kelleher and fired home – but the celebrations were cut short as it was ruled out for offside.
From that moment on, Liverpool were firmly on top, producing shot after shot on André Onana’s goal. First, Dominik Szoboszlai saw an effort saved by the United goalkeeper, but Onana’s resolve was broken midway through the half.
Andrew Robertson’s corner was nodded to the back post by Darwin Núñez, where Luis Díaz, completely unmarked, was able to net with a scissor kick.
The Reds continued to dominate for the rest of the half, but both Mohammed Salah and Núñez failed to double the visitors’ lead with their multiple efforts.
Luis Diaz 23rd Minute Opener for Liverpool
Former FC Porto forward Luis Diaz scored the encounter’s first goal in the 23rd minute. He was at the right place to connect home Darwin Nunez’s flick following a Liverpool corner kick.
Bruno Fernandes’ 50th-minute Equaliser
United came flying out for the second half as a completely different outfit and equalised in the 50th minute thanks to a moment of brilliance from captain Bruno Fernandes.
Jarrell Quansah played a square-ball near the halfway line but out of his eyeline was Fernandes lurking, and the Portuguese maestro produced a sublime first-time effort from just inside the Liverpool half that nestled in the corner.
United Go Ahead in the 67th
Klopp’s men responded well after the scores were levelled, but United completed unlikeliest of turnarounds in the 67th minute. Aaron Wan-Bissaka picked up the ball on the left flank and picked out Kobbie Mainoo in the box, allowing the midfielder to turn and curl a spectacular pinpoint effort into the far corner.
Klopp was visibly enraged at his defence, who themselves were having their own postmortem as to how the visitors were now a goal down.
Mohamed Salah 84th-minute Penalty Equaliser
Liverpool came back once again with waves of attacks however and Harvey Elliott won a penalty for the Reds in the last 10 minutes after being brought down by Wan-Bissaka.
Salah stepped up and slotted the resulting penalty kick away to draw level and set up a grandstand finish.
The results means Arsenal are first in the Premier League with 71 points and plus a 51-goal difference while Liverpool drop to second with the same number of points as the Gunners, but the Reds have a 42-goal difference.
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