Two of England’s most historic clubs, Manchester United and Liverpool, met at Old Trafford on Sunday. It is one of the best match ups in English soccer and also an exciting one to watch. The match was anything but boring, to say the least. Manchester United came into the match winning all of their last five macthes. Liverpool had won just two, drawing the other three. They were also eliminated from the Champions League but get a chance to compete in the Europa league.
Both sides saw plenty of possesion for the opening minutes as both were eager to get on the scoreboard early. Captain Wayne Ronney was able to get United on the board first in the 12th minute. Antonio Valencia showed some skill and speed on the right hand side, beating two players. With good vision, he spotted Rooney at the edge of the box and gave it to him on the floor. Rooney’s hard shot into the back of the net was textbook.
Raheem Sterling was able to create a few chances for himslef throughout the match, but David de Gea was there everytime. United were creative on the counter attack as their offensive was full of threats.
United were able to increase thier lead before the half. Ashley Young’s cross was flicked into the back post by Robin Van Persie and Juan Mata was able to direct the ball into the net. Mata was fortunate not be called offsides, but sometimes referee’s make mistakes, though at first glance, it did not look offsides.
Again, both sides held possesion well and a winner could not be deduced by the way the ball was moving.
United threw their final blow at the 71st minute when Dejan Lovern’s poor clearence met Mata’s feet. He did well to fake a shot and instead passed the ball to an open Robin Van Persie who made no mistake passing the ball into a nearly open net.
Mario Ballotelli came into the game to score goals, but was twice denied by David de Gea. Ballotelli did look out of place and could not find a clear rhythm. De Gea earned his clean sheet as it was not easy to keep. He was named man on the match at the end of things.
Manchester United increase their win streak to six as Louis Van Gaal’s luck seems to have turned around. Van Persie seems to have brushed himself off after a string of poor performances and now has four goals in four games. United’s defense is getting healthy again as Phil Jones and Johnny Evans showed good team work throughout the game. Still, they are extremely lucky to have given up zero goals after all of the chances they gave up. De Gea is largley the reason for this fact as he has only been getting better with every game. It will not be easy to take this man off of United’s hands. United move into third place in the English Premier League, five points behind Manchester City.
Liverpool’s luck, however, does not look as if it will change anytime soon. They have only won two of their last ten matches. They have not looked like the team they were last year since the loss of Luis Suarez. Brendan Rodgers should be worried about his job but the blame cannot all be put on him. Players must score and defend well to win games. They now sit in eleventh place with a goal differential of -3.
Featured Photo Credit: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
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