Who would have expected this? Ahead of tonight’s big derby between Manchester United and Liverpool, there were few home fans who came to Old Trafford expecting a miracle, which would be United’s win. But, tonight was a miracle night at Theatre of Dreams. Not only did United win, but they did it so in style: with lots of chances, aggression and confidence and fully beaten the Reds. In fact, the score should have been higher, only if Rashford, Elanga and co. were a bit more concentrated, but nobody will criticize them: Manchester United – Liverpool 2-1.1 – Manchester United have won just one of their last 12 Premier League games against Liverpool (D6 L5) and are winless in eight meetings, since a 2-1 win in March 2018. Mersey-Paradise. pic.twitter.com/2udAzEdTqu— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 22, 2022 The Red Devils recorded a win against the toughest opponent, not against Brighton or Brentford, and this should be a huge shot of confidence for Ten Hag’s men. This should also be a minimum for next games, as now everybody witnessed that United can press 90 minutes, can pass the ball, can defend and can score goals. Liverpool were unbeaten in all 21Premier League games in 2022 (16 wins 5 draws, the last defeat in December 2021), and they are now two places under United at the table, with a terrible start of of the season: two draws and one defeat. The day started with a massive supporters protest against the Glazers, and continued with a presentation of Casemiro, just before the match, as an attempt to calm down the crowd, but United’s players made sure they got he fans on their heels, this time for a good reason. He is here: Casemiro signs ahead of United-Liverpool derbyFirst half – a miracle! It was a miracle how well and aggressive United played, and it was a miracle how the result was only 1-0 for the Red Devils. The home team felt the electric atmosphere from the full Old Trafford and went aggressive and strong from the first minute. Even thou United only had one shot on target (and that was the opening goal), Ten Hag’s men were constantly attacking and creating good scoring opportunities, while Liverpool looked like a beaten boxer waiting for the first shot to fell on the floor. Elanga should have scored after 10 minutes, with a brilliant pass from McTominlay (another miracle) as Allison was already beaten, but the ball went into the post, but six minutes later, Sancho came to the penalty area, made a brilliant dribble which sent Milner to the ground and Allison to another corner and then calmly finished: 1-0 United.That goal was the ninth time Liverpool have conceded first in their last ten competitive matches – not including the Community Shield win over Manchester City. Another worrying sign for Jurgen Klopp who was watching his team’s performance in dismay. Nothing was working, and he could only witness his team’s mental defeat, as almost every United’s attack looked like a goal scoring opportunity. Allison saved a great shot from Eriksen in the 25th minute and from that moment, Liverpool started to wake up. They didn’t score, they didn’t make a single shot on target, but they took the ball away from United, finishing the half with 70% possession. The home team nearly scored an own goal in a panic attack, but Martinez cleared the ball off the line.The protest is HUGE!!!!We want our Manchester United back 💪pic.twitter.com/cgb7xU2Yio— UtdFaithfuls (@UtdFaithfuls) August 22, 2022 The Reds kept the momentum at the start of the second half, but then United made a quick counter attack and Marcus Rashford scored from nearly an offside position for 2-0 in the 53rd minute. Liverpool just didn’t have the mental strength tonight to come back from 2-0. They had two good chances, but De Gea brilliantly saved Diaz’s shot in the 56th minute and then prevented an own goal by Martinez in the 81st minute. One minute later, it was 2-1, after a first sloppy United’s defending, which was used by Mohamed Salah to score.Cristiano Ronaldo was introduced in the 85th minute, along with Van De Beek and Wan-Bissaka and United managed to keep their net and finally record a win in the Premier League. Watch out Southampton next week.ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 3SaturdayTottenham – Wolverhampton 1-0 (0-0)/Kane 64/Crystal Palace – Aston Villa 3-1 (1-1)/Zaha 7, 58, Mateta 71 – Watkins 5/Everton – Nott.Forest 1-1 (0-0)/Gray 88 – Johnson 81/Fulham – Brentford 3-2 (2-1)/Reid 1, Palhinha 20, Mitrovic 90 – Norgaard 44, Toney 71/Leicester – Southampton 1-2 (0-0)/Maddison 54 – Adams 68, 84/Bournemouth – Arsenal 0-3 (0-2)/Odegaard 5, 11, Saliba 54/Sunday Leeds – Chelsea 3-0 (2-0)/Aaronson 33, Rodrigo 37, Harrison 69/West Ham – Brighton 3-0 (0-1)/Mac Allister 20 pen, Trossard 66/Newcastle United – Manchester City 3-3 (2-1)/Almiron 28, Wilson 39, Trippier 54 – Gundogan 5, Haaland 60, Bernardo 64/Monday Man.Utd. – Liverpool 2-1 (1-0)/Sancho 16, Rashford 53 – Salah 81/
