A Red Devils Improved Performance vs The Redmen

Well what a difference a week makes and what a performance that were from The Red Devils last Thursday night but it was all to no avail as The Redmen struck just before the halftime whistle to make it 1-1. With this being only the 2nd European meeting between these two historic rivals, in the space of 7 days, it didn’t disappoint.

As expected, both teams made starting line-up changes to the previous Thursdays encounter at Anfield. For the Red Devil’s, Michael Carrick and Jesse Lingard were exchanged for Morgan Schneiderlin and Memphis Depay. These changes were made due to Carrick only just returning from injury and Lingard being suspended for the previous leg at Anfield. They were also made to add some experience and pace to the Man Utd midfield. As Louis van Gaal put it before the game “It’s a big challenge and we have to believe in it and it starts with the players but it also starts with the fans, they also have to believe.”.

For The Redmen, there were only one change made which were to bring in James Milner, for Alberto Moreno who pulled up complaining of hamstring pain during Wednesday night’s training session at Old Trafford. Other than this necessary change, the team were just the same. Jürgen Klopp were looking to see the same amount of dedication and effort from all his players as before. He said before the game “We knew that we had to come here to play, so we can ignore the first result. It’s not important for us today. We are here to win the game again. That’s what we shall try. That’s all we have thought about. We are looking forward to it, we are excited, everything is good! We are not a low-rhythm team.” He’s were then asked by BT Sport’s Des Kelly if scoring first would burst United’s bubble. He said “Yes, but that’s always what you should try, isn’t it?” Sounds like common sense all day long, wouldn’t you say?

Liverpool went into the game in a commanding position with a 2-0 lead from the first leg but an Anthony Martial penalty in the first half brought Manchester United right back into the tie with a bang. With this goal and preceding under-performance at Anfield, United could not be accused of failing to understand the importance of the fixture this time around. Which is why you would have expected them go on and score another before the break. They did try to when Marcos Rojo attempted to convert a close-range effort that would have made it 2-2 on aggregate but he fluffed his lines and after that it didn’t seem to be their night anymore.

Moments before the break, Philippe Coutinho produced a moment of brilliance when he decided to create an individual goal from nowhere and give his team an all-important away goal. David De Gea had shown beforehand that it was going to take something special to beat him and, despite the difficult angle, Coutinho duly provided it with an audacious and beautifully weighted up-and-under finish. This moment of brilliance meant United needed three more to progress.

Into the second half and a few more attempts but no goals by both sides didn’t manage to change anything. The score stayed level at one a piece until the end, which is why it weren’t surprising to see large numbers of fans not being able to grin and bear it. This were very disappointing that they decided to up and leave which is why it might be some time before those early-leavers have shaken this latest disappointment from their system.