The eagerly anticipated first matchup between, Manchester United and Liverpool, following the December sacking of Jose Mourinho, ended in a scoreline the Portuguese manager would’ve loved — a scoreless draw.
There was a lot of hype surrounding Sunday’s game between the two rivals — so much so that it overshadowed the Carabao Cup final later that same day — and deservedly so. Tied on points with Manchester City headed into the game, Liverpool and its fans have genuine hope of ending their 29-year-long title drought this season. Meanwhile, United may be out of the title race but a resurgent run of form under interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær had seen them speed past Chelsea and Arsenal into fourth place coming into the game, something that seemed impossible when the Norwegian took over.
But the classic match fans and pundits expected never quite materialized. Instead, a bizarre string of injuries during the first half ensured that the free-flowing goal-fest everyone hoped for, actually turned into a gritty, hard-fought draw best appreciated by defensive purists.
The trouble started in the 14th, when United’s in-form striker, Marcus Rashford, came up hobbling after a crunching tackle from Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson. It looked as though he wouldn’t be able to continue but before Solskjær could sub him, Ander Herrera injured himself tackling Joel Matip in the 22nd. Two minutes after that, Juan Mata went down after sprinting back from his own box to snuff out an attack by the Reds. Five minutes later, it was Liverpool’s turn to lose a player after Roberto Firmino went down without contact. Then, ten minutes after that, Jesse Lingard, who’d come on for Mata, reinjured his hamstring on the only real chance of the game, forcing United to use their third and final before the end of the first half.
Things improved slightly in the second half. No one got hurt and without the trainers constantly interrupting play to see to the latest wounded player, something resembling a flow began to emerge. But even then, this was far from the thrilling affair many had expected. Except for a few bright passages of play both attacks looked disjointed for much of the game, combining for only four shots on goal, none that looked that threatening. But while it’s easy to say neither offense showed up, this felt more like a game in which both defenses played superbly. Virgil van Dijk anchored yet another disciplined performance by the Liverpool backline, while United’s back four, and especially left-back Luke Shaw, put in perhaps their best performance of the season.
But while the game may not have been as exciting as expected, it was far from boring. You could see how much this game meant to both teams, from the early jitters to a furiously competitive second half where every loose ball was fought over. For the first time in years, this meeting of two great rivals had something on the line for both sides. It may not have been pretty, but its intensity was almost enough to make up for that.
The draw is not necessarily a bad result for either side. Liverpool no longer have a game in hand on City, but they’re now up by a point, with a slightly easier schedule to come than their title competition. Meanwhile, United have been pushed out of fourth by Arsenal, who beat Southampton on Sunday, but a one-point gap is nothing to this team, especially with a head-to-head matchup with the Gunners to come in two weeks.
Mutiny of the Week
Kepa Arrizabalaga, Chelsea
Two weeks after being obliterated by Man City 6-0 in the Premier League, Chelsea actually acquitted themselves quite well in Sunday’s Carabao Cup Final. City walked away victorious again, but they needed a 4-3 shootout win to claim their first trophy of the year. Of course, that was overshadowed by what happened at the end of extra time, when Chelsea’s keeper Kepa refused to be subbed off by under-fire manager Maurizio Sarri. The Italian wanted to put in backup Willy Caballero, who he felt would be better suited to a penalty shoot-out, but Kepa, to everyone’s shock, refused. After two awkward minutes of yelling and gesturing at one another, the keeper won out and was allowed to stay on the field, much to his manager’s disgust. The blatant show of disrespect was too much for Sarri to take, and he stormed out of the technical area, perhaps aware that his time as Chelsea manager is up.
Goal of the Week
Gerard Deulofeu
No one has ever questioned Gerard Deulofeu’s talent, it’s always just been a matter of whether or not he could figure out how to perform consistently. While he’ still struggling to do that, on Friday he showed why Watford is willing to deal with his off days. The forward registered a hat trick during his side’s 5-1 victory over Cardiff City, and none of those goals were quite as nice as the second, where Deulofeu chipped the ball right over the keeper and inside the far post to put the game out of reach once and for all.
