Manchester United stun Liverpool 2-1 as Maguire scores late winner

Liverpool fell to Manchester United for a fourth successive defeat with Harry Maguire’s late goal, sealing a 2-1 victory over the spluttering Premier League champions.

After falling to Chelsea, Galatasaray, and Crystal Palace, Arne Slot’s side faced their most agonizing setback on Sunday when their bitter rivals came out on top.

With an 84th-minute header from Cody Gakpo in the 78th minute, Bryan Mbeumo put United in front after two minutes, and Maguire secured his club’s first victory at Anfield since 2016.

For the first time in Ruben Amorim’s tenure as United manager, Maguire’s goal also earned him two consecutive Premier League victories.

Liverpool is now four points clear of Arsenal at the top of the table as a result of the defeat, and Arne Slot is still looking for solutions to strike the right balance after spending nearly 450 million pounds ($604 million) on signings in the transfer market.

With Amorim’s biggest victory in nearly a year in charge, United are now just two points clear of their historical rivals in terms of points and are ninth in the table.

Liverpool could not have anticipated a worse start on Sunday after three consecutive defeats, for the first time under Slot’s leadership.

After a mere minute, Mbeumo eased past Virgil van Dijk before firing past Giorgi Mamardashvili from Amad Diallo’s pass.

After Alexis MacAllister suffered a head injury sustained by his own captain, van Dijk, the home team and supporters were furious that play was not stopped in the lead-up.

Florian Wirtz looked unsuccessfully to strike the right balance between defense and attack for the second consecutive game before slot decided to leave him on the bench.

Gakpo’s header from Mohamed Salah’s through ball in Liverpool’s one-man, one-move first half equalled for the reigning champions.

Bruno Fernandes wasted a fantastic chance to give the Red Devils a two-goal lead when he hit the post from the edge of the area unmarked.

In the opening 45 minutes, Senne Lammens was rarely troubled, but he made a brave save when asked to deny Alexander Isak his first Premier League goal since moving to Liverpool for a record 125 million pounds ($168m).

The Dutchman rattled the woodwork for a third time early in the second half after a Gakpo deflected cross that then came back off the post.

As Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike were introduced on the hour mark to join Salah, Gakpo, and Isak in a five-man attack, Slot turned to his close to 200 million pounds ($268m) in forward options off the bench.

In this game, Salah has scored more goals than any other player, but Lammens’ goal to beat at the back post was only the start of a wild finish that showed his lack of form.

When Federico Chiesa, who had just replaced Isak, fired a low cross from point blank range that Gakpo converted, Liverpool’s impressive attacking talent finally shut the door down.

However, due to Maguire’s unmarked position and their defensive prowess, parity only lasted for six minutes as Fernandes’ looping cross was unmarked.

When Gakpo headed wide, Gakpo should still have saved the game thanks to Jeremie Frimpong’s warm delivery.

However, Liverpool suffered yet another blow to their hopes of capturing the record-breaking 21st English top flight title with their first defeat at Anfield in more than a year.

According to Maguire, it “means everything” to win.

He said, “It has taken a long time to come to this ground and pick up three points.”

The phrase “the old cliche is that it is only three points, but it isn’t really that important for the club, the boys, and the fans”

Van Dijk remarked to Sky Sports that Liverpool needed to work together to survive this challenging time.

The captain of Liverpool said, “We have to stay together, not just with the players but also with the fans who want us to win,” which is an interesting moment.

We must maintain our integrity, continue to work, and maintain our highest levels of self-assurance. It is crucial that we maintain the mindset of supporting one another when times are difficult. He claimed that the season is “long.”

Emi Buendia’s curling goal in Aston Villa’s earlier Premier League game on Sunday earned them a 2-1 victory over Tottenham.

Spurs had a flimsy start to the season, so the victory gave Villa a fresh start.

In the 77th minute, Buendia squirmed his way across the edge of the box before slicing a flawless shot into the bottom corner at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

After failing to win any of their first six games of the campaign, Villa won fifth straight against them in all competitions.

Spurs’ seven-game unbeaten streak was set to end when Rodrigo Bentancur gave the away team the lead after just five minutes.

Source: Aljazeera