Harry Maguire, the newly appointed captain of Manchester United had issued a bold warning ahead of the cataclysmic clash between the Red Devils and their bitter rivals that his side was ‘confident’ of taking three points from the Reds on Sunday afternoon.
Brash words indeed for someone who has yet to net even a single goal for his new club. Especially since his failure to effectively fortify and shore up United’s defence has turned out to be a glaring disappointment.
When prompted if their previous 1-1 result against the Reds back in November would boost their morale, he acquiesced: “Yes, it gives us confidence …. as a team we’re confident going into any game.”
“We drew against Liverpool and we beat City, who are the top teams in the Premier League at the moment … so we’re confident that we can get three points from any game and that’s what we’ll be going to do on Sunday.”
Sadly for United, these words rang hollow as a goal each in either half from Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah were enough to send the Carabao Cup semi-finalists packing. So much for hot air.
In a match that proved ultimately entertaining, United were outplayed by Liverpool for lengthy periods with sporadic moments of incisive counter attack that could just as easily have borne fruit. Goals by Roberto Firmino and Georginio Wijnaldum were ruled out. Credit to the visitors that Liverpool had to withstand a final 20 minutes persistent onslaught before Salah added a second goal at the concluding moments of the game.
Perhaps some would have felt that the final outcome flattered the Red Devils, who were aided by VAR and an offside call to deny Liverpool two additional goals.
Maguire’s counterpart, the flying Dutchman, whom he replaced as the world’s most expensive defender, was sheer inpirational genius as he rose toweringly above the occasion, and United’s defenders, just 14 minutes into the match to nod home Trent Alexander-Arnold’s corner kick. The midfield maestro delivered an incredibly impeccable and tantalysing display with his prowess and assuring presence that most assuredly deserved a standing ovation.
Van Dijk’s £75 million move from Southampton must’ve been a god-sent to Liverpool as he’s been a key figure highly instrumental in the transformation of Liverpool into a serious winning team under Jurgen Klopp. An integral part of Liverpool’s Champions League winning campaign, he was placed second to Lionel Messi in the 2019 Ballon d’Or.
The Dutchman’s screamer of an opener was his 10th goal for the club before Salah sealed the deal in stoppage time with his own last minute counter-attack scramble as the United men were caught off-guard at the other end of the field trying last ditch attempts to spring an equaliser.
Even Solskjaer was finally humbled into submission and said: “We have just had a game against the best team in the country at the moment. We looked strong. But we didn’t have that quality. When you don’t have that quality in the last pass and finish then you aren’t going to get anything from places like this.”