After two defeats in the first two days of the English championship, Manchester United raised their heads on Monday, August 22, against their old rival Liverpool. At Old Trafford, the Red Devils gleaned the victory with the score of 2-1. The Reds are having a difficult start to the season with only two points taken in three outings.
It is a sigh of relief that we push on the side of Manchester at the end of the 3rd day of the 2022-2023 Premier League season. The first two were a real torture, with an inaugural defeat at home against Brighton (1-2), and especially this humiliation suffered in Brentford (0-4). In the event of a third consecutive setback on Monday August 22, the last place in the standings awaited Manchester United. Fortunately for them, the Red Devils raised their heads against Liverpool, their great rival with Manchester City.
Sancho and Rashford bring down the Reds
In an Old Trafford stadium which was able to cheer on newcomer Casemiro, bought from Real Madrid for more than 70 million euros but not qualified for the evening match, the locals quickly took the upper hand. After an early shot from Anthony Elanga on Alisson Becker’s post, Manchester United opened the scoring through Jadon Sancho. The former Borussia Dortmund player, skilful and full of composure, mystified the Liverpool defense before slipping the ball into the back of the net (16th).
Although the ball monopoly was to their credit (70% possession), the Reds hardly ever knew what to do with it. And what hung in their face ended up happening: Anthony Martial launched Marcus Rashford deep to the limit of offside, and the striker went to win his duel against the Brazilian goalkeeper (53rd). With a very limited bench and significant absences (Ibrahima Konaté, Thiago Alcantara, Diogo Joa, Darwin Nunez …), Jürgen Klopp did not have many solutions to reverse the trend.
The vice-champions of England could only save the honor thanks to a victorious header from the Egyptian Mohamed Salah, quick to take back a ball just repelled by David De Gea (81st). Too little to hope to come back against a Manchester United decided to finally take their first points. And finally, a few minutes later, Erik ten Hag, the new Dutch coach, was able to let his joy burst at the final whistle.
The situation in the standings is certainly not idyllic, and the Mancunians do not yet seem able to invite themselves into the race for the title or the podium. But the Red Devils breathe a little better by going back to 14th place, opening their counter and stopping the bleeding. Liverpool’s situation, on the other hand, is complicated. With two draws and one defeat in three days, the Mersey club is off to a very difficult start in this 2022-2023 vintage, far from the form shown in the previous four seasons. The Reds have problems to solve quickly if they do not want to be dropped from the start of the championship.