Dire United serve up horror show for watching Sir Alex
● All too easy for leaders Liverpool as once mighty visitors hit new low
Of all the places for manchester United to record their worst ever start to a Premier League season, it had to be Anfield. Sir Alex Ferguson was in the stands, probably horrified that he’d ever seen the day United were 19 points behind first-place Liverpool only 17 games into a campaign. The stuff of nightmares, in his day. Unthinkable from the moment he knocked liverpool from their perch 30 years ago.
United’s fall from it has been entirely of their own doing since the Scot finally stood down: poor management, worse recruitment, a toxic environment. United are so far behind Liverpool and Manchester City, and plummeting at such speed, they can no longer see the perch anymore.
Substitute Xherdan Shaqiri’s two second-half strikes and Sadio Mane’s opener meant United have conceded 29 goals, more than they conceded last season as they sit in sixth, already eight points behind fifth-place Arsenal.
It was not United’s best day in the Sky studios, either, with former United midfield great Roy Keane in the build-up attacking Jesse Lingard, pictured, for having the audacity to have a fashion label on the side. Only for Lingard to score.
“If there was a strong dressing room, that would not be tolerated,” Keane said. “For a young player still learning his trade, if you’re coming up with all that nonsense... People say you should have other stuff outside of football – I don’t think you should.”
Let’s not forget Lingard is 26 years old – around halfway through his playing career, somewhere near his peak, a World Cup semi-finalist with England in the summer. He scored completely out of the blue on 33 minutes, passing out to Romelu Lukaku on the left, whose ball across goal was spilled by Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker out to the England midfielder to turn in. How on earth did he manage to score seven days after launching a new clothing line from his JLINGZ fashion label? The goal came out of nowhere; United were one behind and incapable even of hoofing the ball out of their own half, and it really was a howler from Alisson, allowing the ball to bounce between his hands and body.
There are rollercoasters at Alton Towers with fewer heart-in-mouth moments than United playing with the ball in their own half. Victor Lindelof attempted to dribble out from the edge of his penalty area, only to be dispossessed by a combination of Mohamed Salah and Mane – the latter feeding the former – and the Swede was only saved by Salah’s uncharacteristic hesitance. A pass back by Nemanja Matic almost went straight to Roberto Firmino. Desperate Eric Bailly diving headers were required on the edge of United’s penalty area. This was all in the opening 15 minutes.
Liverpool’s opening goal, on 24 minutes, was inevitable. Fabinho chipped a ball perfectly into the area, Mane ran on to it, controlled with his chest and finished under David de Gea. No United player was anywhere near him.
At one point in the second half, four United players watched on as Firmino turned with the ball between them inside United’s penalty area then got away a toe poke, which De Gea did well to push around a post. De Gea had also denied the Brazilian with a dive-at-full-stretch.
Jurgen Klopp brought on Shaqiri and it was the German’s changes that won the game. Mane beat Matteo Darmian so easily, ball across, De Gea blocked with a leg but it went all the way through to Shaqiri to thump in via a deflection off Ashley Young. Shaqiri’s second also hit Bailly en route.
LIVERPOOL: Alisson, Clyne, Lovren, van Dijk, Robertson, Mane (Henderson 84), Wijnaldum, Fabinho, Keita (Shaqiri 70), Firmino, Salah. Subs not used: Sturridge, Moreno, Lallana, Mignolet, Camacho.
MAN UTD: de Gea, Darmian, Bailly, Lindelof, Young, Dalot (Fellaini 46), Ander Herrera (Martial 79), Matic, Rashford, Lingard (Mata 85), Lukaku. Subs not used: Jones, Pogba, Romero, Valencia.