Key stats
- Man Utd have beaten Liverpool for the first time in the Premier League since 22nd August 2022, ending a run of five games without a win.
- Liverpool have lost their last three games in the Premier League, their last longer losing streak was from 3rd February 2021 to 20th February 2021, a run of four games.
- Liverpool have scored in their last 42 games in the Premier League, their longest run of games with a goal in the competition.
Highlights
Analysis
Man Utd's Harry Maguire earned the highest Flashscore rating of the match with 7.9, while Liverpool's Alexander Isak had a game to forget with a score of 5.9.
Match report
Having failed to win their previous eight PL away games, the odds were stacked against the Red Devils at Anfield. However, Ruben Amorim’s men got off to the best possible start, taking the lead after just 62 seconds.
Bruno Fernandes played the ball out to the right to Amad Diallo and the Ivorian slipped in Bryan Mbeumo, who slotted past Giorgi Mamardashvili to score the second-earliest goal in this fixture’s PL history.
Liverpool were left incensed after Alexis Mac Allister was down with a head injury while United scored after Virgil van Dijk collided into the Argentine, but the referee chose not to stop the play.
After a sluggish start, Liverpool began to grow into the contest, and were denied by the woodwork on 21 minutes after Cody Gakpo fashioned space before curling a shot off the far post.
United responded in kind, going up the other end and missing a glorious opportunity to double their lead after Amad’s square ball found Fernandes on the edge of the box, but the Portuguese maestro struck the post with his effort.
The home side appeared shaky at the back and looked like conceding every time United broke forward as Mbeumo was denied by Mamardashvili, before the Georgian saved from Mason Mount’s follow up. Gakpo saw a cross deflected onto the woodwork before Alexander Isak was denied by a strong save from Senne Lammens’ feet to ensure Amorim’s side led at the break.
Liverpool flew out of the traps following the restart, and were once again denied by the woodwork after Salah’s floated ball to the far post found Gakpo, who composed himself before whipping towards the far corner but again, the Dutchman’s shot crashed off the post.
Both Amorim and Arne Slot made triple changes around the hour-mark and the game soon turned into an end-to-end affair, with Liverpool throwing caution to the wind by loading the pitch with attackers. That approach paid off, as after Salah failed to steer an effort on target, Federico Chiesa’s ball across the face of goal was turned in by Gakpo.
The Dutchman’s equaliser had Anfield erupting as the home crowd roared on their players to go and find the winner, but instead, United hit back in the 84th minute after Fernandes’ delicious cross into the box was headed home by Harry Maguire.
As expected, Liverpool once again threw everything forward, but the Red Devils defended superbly to secure their first set of back-to-back PL wins under Amorim, and condemn Liverpool to a fourth consecutive defeat in all competitions and third straight loss in the PL.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Harry Maguire (Manchester United)
Click here to see all the stats of the match.
Post-match reaction
Man Utd match-winner Harry Maguire told Sky Sports: "It means everything. They had had the better of us over the last few years and it's not been good for our club. We have not given our fans enough days like today, so it has been a long time coming, coming to this ground and picking up three points.
"It is not just three points to the club and to the boys. I have been coming to this ground for seven years now and to not get three points have been tough. It's for the fans and I hope they had a great night tonight.
"It is nice to have one over Liverpool. Football is all about memories and making special memories. I am sure all the fans will go home with memories, we will all go home happy."
"We won't get carried away because we can't afford that as a club, we will use it as motivation. In this club, it will mean a lot this week and then we have Brighton at home next week. So we have to remain calm headed."
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk cut a frustrated figure during his interview with Sky Sports.
He said: "I think we conceded a very sloppy second goal. We worked so hard to get back into the game and we created great opportunities to score the winner but if you concede a second goal like that, that is the disappointing part.
"If you look at the game as a whole, we were far too rushed. I think they were very patient they didn't press us high but they didn't let us on the ball. We still created many opportunities to score but the reality is that we lost.
"It is an interesting time because we have to stick together, not just us as players but as a club and the fans who want us to win."
Man Utd manager Ruben Amorim has said their first win at Anfield in nine years "doesn't mean a lot".
He told Sky Sports: "It means it today. But tomorrow it is not going to mean a lot. It's three points but it's a good victory.
"I will do the same thing I did in the last few games which is try to see the game. In key points we had some luck, but we fought for every ball, we lost our composure in the second half.
"But the most important thing was the spirit was there. That is the beginning of everything. Sometimes you play more with the ball, other days you play without the ball. But if you have the spirit you can win any game.
"Of course we need moments - to score first, saves from our goalkeeper, one shot on the post - to start believing that we can win any game. But you can feel it, any transition, some moments with the ball, they started believing it was possible.
"Now I'm concerned about Brighton. Yeah, because I have one year of experience, I will enjoy it. I'm not dumb, I have to. But let's focus on Brighton."
Liverpool boss Arne Slot said he had no regrets at making attacking substitutions against Man Utd.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: "It happens three times in a row. We've made many offensive substitutions to turn the game around. In the end, we created a lot of chances throughout the whole game, but mainly after the subs were made.
"Maybe you don't have the same structure defending the set pieces when you start the game. But it's not about who does what, it's making sure you don't concede. Our mindset is maybe only on scoring, scoring, scoring because we deserved to win the game. And maybe we forget - or I don't know if we forget but it comes across that way - these one or two single moments where we have to defend.
"Before (Harry Maguire scored) we created so many chances to score. Cody Gakpo twice off the post, Alexander Isak one-on-one with the goalkeeper. But if I look at the game back, maybe I forgot one or two chances.
"If you're 1-0 down you have to take more risks than when you're 1-0 up. If I take that into account that every time we have to fight back and the chances we concede, I can't be too negative about that.
"Defending in a set piece at 1-1, it happened to us at Palace and again today, that is something we have to do."