United close the gap despite ‘simple mistakes’ as Everton stun City
ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC admits Manchester United made “simple mistakes” despite rescuing a late 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Old Trafford.
James Milner slotted home a first-half penalty for the visitors before Ibrahimovic levelled with six minutes remaining to secure a share of the spoils.
The draw extended United’s unbeaten run in the Premier League to 12 games but the Red Devils saw their nine-game winning streak in all competitions come to an end.
Liverpool are still searching for their first win of 2017 but the point did move Jurgen Klopp’s side up to third, level on points with second-placed Tottenham and seven adrift of leaders Chelsea.
Ibrahimovic said: “We get one point, but we were not on the top of our game.
“It was a hard fight, we were 1-0 down and we chased and, at the end, we got the equaliser. We did simple mistakes. We were not feeling comfortable under the pressure of the opponent and I think we played the wrong way. If we would have played like we did in the second half in the first half it would have been a different game.
“We were more direct [in the second half]. We did too many mistakes in our build-up [in the first half].”
Ibrahimovic now has 19 goals from 29 appearances this season and his latest effort helped close the gap on fifthplaced Manchester City to two points.
The former Sweden striker added: “We would have liked to win, of course, to close the gap even more, but we haven’t lost a game for a long time.”
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho felt his side deserved to win despite not being at their best.
He said: “We can do, and have done, much better this season in terms of the quality of our game, and their game in my opinion too.
“We created chances but they scored a penalty and in the second half we had a few important chances too. It’s good to see that Liverpool also can play defensively, and in the counter-attack they were always dangerous. I think we deserved more, but the point is something I think everyone has to accept. I thought a few more minutes and we could have done it.
“They stopped our run in terms of consecutive victories in the Premier League, but they didn’t stop our run of being unbeaten for a long time. Next week we have another match, let’s go for it.”
On a pivotal weekend for the Manchester clubs in the title race, Mourinho’s cross-town rival, Pep Guardiola, accepted that the title could be out of reach after his Manchester City side crashed to a 4-0 defeat at Everton.
City were left 10 points behind leaders Chelsea after capitulating alarmingly in the latter stages at Goodison Park yesterday.
The loss was the heaviest suffered by the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss in domestic football in his managerial career.