When the going gets tough, the tough get going. This famous phrase could be used in today‘s great and entertaining Liverpool – Manchester United derby and it could be used for two Africans: Amad Diallo and Andre Onana. Even thou the African duo wasn‘t so visible during the game, in the last 10 minutes of the game, they made all the difference. Ivory Coast youngster scored the equalizer in the 80th minute and the Cameroonian keeper made a great save in the 90th minute and saved Bradley‘s possible winner. In the end, United got one point, but it looked like a win: Liverpool – Manchester United 2-2.🚨🏴 GOAL | Liverpool 0-1 Manchester United | Lisandro MartinezLISANDRO MARTINEZ OPENS THE SCORING FOR MANCHESTER UNITED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!pic.twitter.com/fcCSlus28M— Tekkers Foot (@tekkersfoot) January 5, 2025 Before the game, not even the most craziest Manchester fans were so optimistic and not only win, but a win with a great margin was predicted for Liverpool. The previous displays from both teams suggested it, but that‘s the beauty of football – an outsider can win against a firm favorite, and the Red Devils had that opportunity in the 97th minute, but Harry Maguire of all people missed a sitter from five meters. Still, the red half of Manchester will be thrilled not only with the result, but with their player‘s display. United finally played with heart and passion and that was a good way to cover the lack of individual quality. They were also very disciplined, as they took the defensive approach in order to prevent Liverpool to score. But the individual mistakes were again on display, even from the most experienced players. Matthijs De Ligt, who played in Juventus and Bayern made two mistakes which led to Liverpool‘s goals. He allowed Gakpo to dribble him and equalize and then handballed and allowed Salah to turn the game to 2-1. Luckily for him, he had young star Diallo to score the decisive goal.⚽️ GOAL: 1-1Gakpo equalises for Liverpool. pic.twitter.com/iYS3P4vGTa— AnfieldIndex (@AnfieldIndex) January 5, 2025 From the first minute, Manchester made a 5-4-1 formation and was very disciplined with it. It was much harder for Liverpool to break down the guests, as there were too many players in defense and in the middle, where Mainoo and Ugarte were sitting deep. One the other side, this kind of formation meant that Man Utd couldn‘t do much up front when they did get the ball. Still, the Red Devils had one good and one great chance in the first half. Dalot, who was the most attacking player for the guests made a great cross in the 20th minute, but Amad Diallo didn‘t react good as his header was rather awkward. But Rasmus Hojlund should have scored three minutes before the half, when he found himself one-on-one with Allison, but the Brazilian saved his shot. The hosts also had their chances, two of them. Gakpo was coming from the left in the 14th minute, but his shot went just wide of the far post. Two minutes later, Mac Allister got embarrassed for his unreal miss. Salah made a superb pass deep from the right, and the Argentinian was alone with Onana but the Cameroonian made a leg save from only six meters.MO SALAH WHAT A GOALTHE BEST PLAYER IN PREMIER LEAGUE HISTORY AFTER CRISTIANO RONALDO pic.twitter.com/bFnyW3iDyl https://t.co/njhXlkxf32— fan (@NoodleHairCR7) January 5, 2025 ⚽️ GOAL: Amad Diallo scores at 79th minutes🏴 Liverpool 2-2 Manchester Unitedpic.twitter.com/Eqj9ECI5Qi— Goals Xtra (@GoalsXtra) January 5, 2025 But the shock followed in the second half. Lisando Martinez, of all people did what others couldn’t – he scored the first United goal at Anfield in the last five games. He found himself in the penalty area in the 52nd minute and after getting the ball from Fernandes, he took a precise shot under the bar for a surprise lead. But Liverpool responded immediately with a fantastic goal from Gakpo. The Netherlands‘ international made a great solo effort and took out De Ligt after a brilliant dribble only to precisely score the equalizer. And just 10 minutes later, De Ligt made another mistake. After the ball came to United‘s penalty area, his hand was high, and that was always going to be penalized. VAR signalized to referee Oliver to take a look and it was an easy penalty which Salah converted for the lead. And just as everybody thought this was it, Liverpool will win this one, Diallo made a surprise and equalized ten minutes from time. After him, it was time for Onana to shine which he did. If only Maguire didn‘t miss a sitter in the end, it would be first United‘s win at Anfield since 2016, but Ruben Amorim will surely be happy with this result as well.ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 20Saturday Tottenham – Newcastle 1-2 (1-2)/Solanke 4 – Gordon 6, Isak 38/Aston Villa – Leicester 2-1 (0-0)/Barkley 58, Bailey 76 – Mavididi 63/Bournemouth – Everton 1-0 (0-0)/Brooks 77/Crystal Palace – Chelsea 1-1 (0-1)/Mateta 82 – Cole 14/Man.City – West Ham 4-1 (2-0)/Coufal (og) 10, Haaland 42, 55, Foden 58 – Fullkrug 71/Southampton – Brentford 0-5 (0-1)/Chade 6, Mbuemo 62, 69, Wissa 90+2, Lewis Potter 90+5/Brighton – Arsenal 1-1 (0-1)/Pedro (p) 61 – Nwaneri 16/Sunday Fulham – Ipswich 2-2 (0-1)/Jimenez 69 pen, 90+1 pen – Szmodics 38, Delap 71 pen/Liverpool – Man.Utd. 2-2 (0-0)/Gakpo 59, Salah 70(p) – Martinez 52, Diallo 80/Monday23.00: (3.20) Wolverhampton (3.30) Nott.Forest (2.30)***odds are subject to change***
