Manchester United stun Liverpool to win first game league game under Erik ten Hag

Manchester United stun Liverpool to win first game league game under Erik ten Hag

Erik Ten Hag’s reign as Manchester United manager finally breathed into life on Monday night as the Red Devils secured a momentous win over arch-rivals Liverpool to win their first game under the Dutchman. Goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford in either half fired United to their first league victory over Liverpool since 2018 as the Reds continued their winless streak to start the new season.

United entered this fixture after suffering disappointing losses to Brighton and Brentford in the opening two weeks of the season, but Erik Ten Hag’s side showed a remarkably changed attitude in this crunch encounter under the lights at Old Trafford. Spurred on by the crowd, United displayed remarkable intensity from the first whistle as they outduelled a Liverpool team that was miles off the pace.

The hosts should have taken the lead inside ten minutes when Anthony Elanga – who replaced Cristiano Ronaldo in the XI – struck the post while 1 on 1 with Alisson. Nevertheless, Elanga made amends just five minutes later. The winger was involved in some neat interplay with Christian Eriksen before laying the ball onto the path of Jadon Sancho, who sat down James Milner and Alisson in the penalty area and side-footed the ball into the bottom corner to score Manchester United’s first goal of the season.

United nullified the Liverpool attacking threat with little discomfort throughout the first period, but the hosts did suffer a scare on the eve of half-time. James Milner’s header from a corner was nearly bundled into his net by Bruno Fernandes if not for the intervention of Lisandro Martinez on the goal-line.

Ten Hag introduced Anthony Martial for Elanga in the second half, and the Frenchman was instrumental in helping United double their advantage. Martial pounced on Jordan Henderson’s poor touch near the centre circle before releasing Marcus Rashford into acres of space. The Englishman managed to stay onside and made no mistake with the finish, striking the ball past Alisson into the near post to send the United faithful into delirium.

Rashford spurned two further chances to add a third, and Liverpool eventually found a way back into the contest when Salah halved the deficit in the final ten minutes. The Egyptian pounced first after De Gea repelled Fabio Carvalho’s shot to heighten the drama in the final stages, but Manchester United eventually survived the Liverpool counterpunch to get their season up and running.

With this win, United leapfrog Liverpool in the points table to jump into 14th place, while the Reds’ disaster start to the new campaign heightens the pressure on Jurgen Klopp to turn things around on Merseyside.