United hold on for vital point at Anfield

Liverpool played with greater urgency in the second half, but Manchester United held on for a valuable Premier League point at Anfield on Monday night.

Liverpool came out with greater urgency in the second half, but couldn’t get the breakthrough as Manchester United held on for a valuable Premier League point at Anfield on Monday night.

The goalless draw saw both teams remaining in their respective positions, with Liverpool moving up to 17 points in fourth spot as they extended their unbeaten run to six matches, while United shifted up to 14 to stay in seventh.

United were certainly the better team in the opening 45 minutes, with the likes of Marcus Rashford and Antonio Valencia providing significant drive down the right flank.

But perhaps that was part of the problem for Jose Mourinho’s team, as they lacked a speedy predator alongside front-man Zlatan Ibrahimovich in and around the box.

Rashford was wasted out wide as he and Valencia’s crosses never quite found their intended target, while Ibrahimovich was watched closely by the Liverpool defence.

Ashley Young was employed as a “false striker” behind Ibrahimovich, but the ploy didn’t work out as the English international appeared to be in no-man’s land throughout, and would’ve been better used out wide, with Rashford in the middle.

While record signing Paul Pogba again drifted in and out of the contest, the best chance of the first half fell to United as Rashford finally managed to whip in a low cross past the first Liverpool defender, and goalkeeper Loris Karius was forced to parry the ball away with Ibrahimovich lurking in the six-yard box in the 25th minute.

Liverpool fared better in the last 15 minutes before the break, but Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino’s final pass, and a couple of headers, let them down.

The Red Devils’ best chance of the night came early in the second half when Pogba produced a rare touch of class with a curling right-footed cross that found Ibrahimovich unmarked in the penalty area, but the Swede opted to head the ball across the face of goal instead of going for the back of the net, and the opportunity was lost.

That miss seemed to spark Liverpool into action, as they surged back with greater urgency in the last half-an-hour.

The unusually subdued Joel Matip found Emre Can on the edge of the United penalty area, and the big Turk turned and held off opposing captain Chris Smalling to stab a shot in at goal, and Spaniard David de Gea made an agile dive to his right to keep it out.

But that was nothing compared to his block in the 71st minute, when Coutinho eventually found his range with a terrific shot from 25 yards that looked like it was going all the way. De Gea, though, launched himself into the air and knocked it behind for a corner, which even drew applause from Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.

Both managers were rather cautious with regards to utilising substitutes to engineer a breakthrough, with Klopp bringing on Adam Lallana replacing Daniel Sturridge in the 59th minute, while Mourinho’s first move saw club captain Wayne Rooney coming on for Rashford in the 77th.

There were a flurry of changes in the last 10 minutes, but while Liverpool still enjoyed the upper hand, neither side came close to grabbing all three points.

ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za

@ashfakmohamed