Liverpool defeats United to move to the top

The most awaited game of this week ended in the favor of Liverpool after Shaqiri came off the bench and scored a brace to provide 3-1 victory to Liverpool. Between the two biggest rivals of English football, Liverpool dominated United from the start till the end. United was lucky just to concede 3 goals in the match. Another lackluster performance has further increased pressure on Mourinho.

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As the game started, Liverpool was at second after Manchester City won against Everton. Liverpool needed to win this one to go to the top, and the instinct for victory was clear from the first minute. de Gea saved shot from Firmino and Fabinho to deny lead for Liverpool. Whole United squad was busy defending with Lukauku waiting for ball upfront but United was barely touching the ball. The high pressing Liverpool waited till the 24th minute for the first goal. Young couldnt track Mane scored the first goal for Liverpool from the Fabinhos pass. Young was at fault this time for not keeping track of Mane and de Gea had no chance to save it.

A moment after the goal, Lovren missed an opportunity to double the lead, he skied one of the best chance he will ever get from inside the box. At the 33rd minute, United pulled an equalizer from nowhere from Alissons mistake. Alisson couldnt gather the cross from Lukaku. Lingard made no mistake to get it back into the goal, his first away goal since January and second for the season. After the equalizer, Liverpool somehow lost its momentum and didnt produce the attacking instincts which they produced early in the first half.

Mourinho introduced Fellaini at the start of the second half. Liverpool produced some good chances in the second half too but a shot after a shot and a corner after corner failed. de Gea saved a shot from Firmino after wonderful footwork. Shaqiri was all needed to break the resilience of United. Three minutes after his introduction, Shaqiri effort was deflected off Ashley Young and went into the net. At the 80th minute, Shaqiri scored his second and third for Liverpool with a shot deflected by Bailey and de Gea had no chance again.

Although the winning goals came off the deflection, it was a well-deserved win for Liverpool. And it showed the gulf between these two biggest rivals. United only managed 6 shots compared to 36 by Liverpool which shows how poor Uniteds performance was. And it is the worse ever point tally for United in the league since 1990-91 where they managed 26 points from first 17 matches which means more pressure on Mourinho.