Liverpool too quick for blundering United

Two defensive blunders by Manchester United saw them gift two goals to arch-rivals Liverpool in a 2-0 Europa League last-16 first leg defeat at Anfield on Thursday night.

Two defensive blunders by Manchester United saw them gift two goals to arch-rivals Liverpool in a 2-0 Europa League last-16 first leg defeat at Anfield on Thursday night.

While Jurgen Klopp’s Reds dominated possession in front of a capacity crowd on Merseyside, they were unable to convert it into goals in what was the first showdown between the teams in a European competition, despite the rich history of success on the continent for both clubs.

But the Reds were assisted by Louis van Gaal’s outfit in each half to end a four-game winning streak for United against Liverpool, with a penalty by Daniel Strurridge and a second-half strike from Brazilian Roberto Firmino.

With both teams battling to create any real clear-cut chances in the opening quarter, the game burst into life when outstanding Liverpool midfielder Firmino put through an incisive through-ball to Nathaniel Clyne in the 20th minute.

Memphis Dupuy was tracking Clyne’s run, and went in for a challenge virtually on the border of United’s 18-yard box. Clyne went down in a heap, and Spanish referee Carlos Velasco Carballo rather harshly ruled that Dupuy had fouled the Liverpool player and pointed to the penalty spot.

England striker Sturridge stepped up and slotted the ball past David de Gea’s outstretched right hand to put the Reds into a 1-0 lead.

The breakthrough spurred Liverpool on as they laid siege to the United goal, with Philippe Coutinho, Sturridge and Adam Lallana all denied by a series of brilliant saves by De Gea, the Spanish shot-stopper keeping Van Gaal’s team in the game.

Klopp’s side played at a high tempo, with the pace of Firmino, Lallana and Coutinho proving too hot to handle for the United defence throughout.

United were busy between the two penalty areas, but hardly found themselves the Liverpool box and battled to get a shot on target. Juan Mata and Marouane Fellaini couldn’t make any inroads on attack, and young strike sensation Marcus Rashford barely had a sight of the Liverpool goal.

Coutinho nearly doubled Liverpool’s lead after halftime when he fired in a curving shot from 25 yards, and the ball just skimmed the crossbar, with De Gea beaten for once.

Clyne had a similar outcome in the 67th minute, with De Gea punching a flying ball away from danger.

United almost made Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet work just after the hour mark when Dupuy darted down the left and found Anthony Martial inside the box, but the Frenchman’s first touch was too firm and the ball squirted away from his feet.

But then came the killer blow in the 73rd minute for the Red Devils when a Liverpool cross from the right was intercepted by Michael Carrick inside the six-yard box.

But instead of blasting the ball clear, the England veteran chipped the ball straight back to Lallana, who passed to Firmino to tuck it past De Gea into the top left corner.

United pushed forward in the last 10 minutes, and Belgian forward Fellaini had a clear header in the 84th minute, but it went just wide.

An away goal would’ve given Van Gaal some hope, but on the evidence of Thursday’s display, United will find it hard to keep up with Liverpool’s urgency on attack in the second leg at Old Trafford next week Thursday.

In the only other last-16 game involving an English team, Tottenham Hotspur came back down to earth with a bump following their success in the Premier League with a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Borussia Dortmund in Germany.

Gabon’s star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring after half-an-hour, and German star Marco Reus grabbed a brace in the second stanza.

ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za

@IndyCapeSport

Europa League last-16 first leg results

Liverpool 2 Manchester United 0, Borussia Dortmund 3 Tottenham Hotspur 0, Sparta Prague 1 Lazio 1, Athletic Bilbao 1 Valencia 0, Villarreal 2 Bayer Leverkusen 0, Basel 0 Sevilla 0, Fenerbahce 1 Sporting Braga 0, Shakhtar Donetsk 3 Anderlecht 1.