Man Utd 3-1 Liverpool: And the heart is happy again

Beating their arch-rivals, rising to second place in the table, De Gea returning to the starting line-up and playing well, new signing Martial debuting with a superb solo goal, Man Utd can hardly expect anything more from the key match on Saturday night, September 12.

The victory for Man Utd was decided in the second half, with all three goals coming after the break. The first two, through Daley Blind and Herrera, both came from set pieces, before Anthony Martial - the world's most expensive teenager ($56 million), came off the bench to send Old Trafford into a frenzy with a spectacular solo goal.

Martial (centre) ended the goal party at Old Trafford and opened a new chapter in his career, after scoring in his first Premier League match. Photo: Reuters.

Liverpool tried very hard to avoid a third consecutive defeat, in the framework of the Premier League, against their great rivals, but they were powerless. The only positive thing they could do at Old Trafford on the afternoon of September 12 was to feel elated, excited and a little proud with Benteke's bicycle kick volley to reduce the score to 1-2 in the 84th minute. However, the flight from that super goal only lasted for a minute, before Liverpool were brought back to earth by Man Utd's Martial, with an equally spectacular goal.

Man Utd entered the Premier League's top match of round 5 with a somewhat heavy heart. In the previous four matches, they had gone through a series of relegations - winning the first two matches in a dull manner, drawing with Newcastle in the third match and then losing 1-2 to Swansea in the fourth match. Rooney failed to score in all four matches, but when he returned to the fire, setting an England scoring record and expected to breathe new life into Man Utd's attack, he suffered a hamstring injury and had to sit out the match.

That mentality made the "Red Devils" feel like they were wearing stones in the first half. Fellaini was arranged to play as a striker instead of Rooney, but was pale. Mata disappeared, while Memphis Depay only had a few fast dribbles. The midfield with the trio Herrera - Carrick - Schweinsteiger held the ball well, but could not transmit the necessary momentum to the front.

The team's play in this half also appeared monotonous, with the team trying to move the ball to the two wings, then passing the ball high to Fellaini. The rare bright spot of Man Utd in this dark half was perhaps only Luke Shaw - Matteo Darmian, a pair of full-backs who were solid in defense and very active in attacking situations.

The change only came after the break when Man Utd unexpectedly opened the scoring from a set-piece in the 49th minute. Mata took the free kick from the right, but instead of lofting the ball, he passed it low for Daley Blind to run up and shoot like a thunderbolt past the Liverpool goalkeeper. Schweinsteiger also had a hand in this goal with a smart run that stretched the white defense, creating space for his teammate to finish.

When Rooney was absent, the other attacking stars were silent, Blind was the one who shined to create an advantage for Man Utd. Photo: Reuters.

The opening goal made both teams play more actively, in contrast to the sluggishness of the first half. Liverpool started to have more sieges on goal and there were times when the home team had to be scared, such as the situation where they made De Gea flustered in the 56th minute, forcing him to show his talent to block Ings' shot a minute later and the situation where they forced Daley Blind to save twice on the goal line in the 65th minute.

Man Utd started to look more dangerous in attack, thanks to the presence of Young and Martial. And in a quick attack, they earned a penalty in the 70th minute when Herrera got down to receive a through ball from Carrick and was fouled by Gomez. The Spanish midfielder himself took the penalty and easily beat Mignolet to double the score.

Liverpool responded well to the second goal, but their change was not enough to make a comeback. Of the three chances they created, they missed two, with Benteke heading wide and Ibe's shot brilliantly parried by De Gea.

Benteke then gave hope with a volley from a back-footed volley, but as mentioned, that spark of hope was quickly doused by Man Utd, with Martial scoring a stunning solo goal. Liverpool had three players to deal with that seemingly harmless situation, but in the end, they still let the 19-year-old striker, who had no Premier League experience, get past Man Utd, then beat Mignolet with a chip from a tight angle.

Benteke's (white shirt, left) beautiful goal was too little in a match where Liverpool generally played worse than Man Utd. Photo: Reuters.

With three points from this match, Man Utd jumped from seventh place to second, with the same 10 points as Arsenal, the team ranked third because of a worse goal difference, five points behind the leader Man City. Coach Van Gaal and his team will maintain their current position on the scoreboard, if in the late match today, Sunday 13/9, Leicester City, the team with eight points, fails to beat the guests Aston Villa.

According to VNE