Liverpool Player Ratings vs Manchester United
Liverpool took complete control of this match right from the very start and thereby got a deserving 2-0 win. They opened the scoring after 20 minutes when Daniel Sturridge beat David de Gea from the penalty spot after Memphis Depay had fouled Nathaniel Clyne. Roberto Firmino scored the second one in the 73rd minute after some good work by Lallana that set him up for the goal.
Liverpool ran havoc in the first half with a series of attacks and almost scored another goal but Philippe Coutinho was guilty of a glaring miss at the back post when he tried to put the ball goal wards with the outside of his boot, but De Gea was there to make a save. Firmino was at his creative last night and provided some exquisite passes. He put on a man of the match performance.
Louis van Gaal made changes at the break and got Michael Carrick on for Marcus Rashford and thereby switched to a 3-5-2 formation but that couldn’t stop Liverpool from seeing more of the ball and thereby go ahead and score a goal in the 73rd minute. Liverpool was by far the better team in this contest and continued to have the better chances in both the halfs. Had it not been for De Gea, United could easily have been 4-0 down.
This is how we rated the Liverpool players after this match:-
1) S. Mignolet – 5/10
He hardly had to do anything the whole match and was more of a spectator. He dealt with crosses comfortably enough and hardly put a foot wrong.
2) N. Clyne – 7.5/10
Although he had a very bad opening 5 minutes, he grew with the match and went on to put on one of his best performances. He had been beaten too easily by Depay inside the first minute, but after that he won almost all of their duel. He was at his attacking best in the second half and gave the likes of Rojo and Blind a tough time.
3) M. Sakho – 6/10
He was solid and good at the back. Moved around the ball well at the back and brought it out to good effect. He was almost left to embarrassment for a missed clearance in the box but United couldn’t capitalise on that. Apart from that he hardly did anything wrong.
4) A. Moreno – 6.5/10
He was tearing down the left flank. The United players had given plenty of space to run into and he produced some good crosses from the left. Rashford initially gave him some problems and he was caught out a couple of times at the back, but his continued attacking progress all throughout the match made up for that.
5) D. Lovren – 6/10
He and Sakho put up a good partnership at the centre of the Liverpool Defence. He too was solid enough at the back, almost did everything asked from him and kept his composure for most parts of the match except one instance in the first half where he was booked for a rash, late challenge on Depay.
6) E. Can – 7/10
He was brilliant going forward. Passed around the ball well and made sure that the Liverpool midfield sees most of the ball. His runs up ahead were brilliant and provided good support to Firmino and Sturridge up in the attack.
7) A. Lallana – 8.5/10
He had a stellar performance last night. His link ups with Firmino were the highlights of the match. He did well in the opponent box and set up Firmino for the second goal. The former Southampton man gave a tough time to the opponent left back and was brilliant both out wide and inside the area.
8) P. Coutinho- 7.5/10
He and Varela had a good fight going on. He carefully went past all the heavy tackles from the right back and also left the youngster in confusion a couple of times with his clever flicks and weaving runs. He deservingly got a yellow card for diving but had a good performance going on all throughout the match.
9) J. Henderson – 7/10
He picked up a booking for a needless challenge as early as the 2nd minute of the game, but since then he hardly put a foot wrong. He too grew with the match and settled into the game well. He performed the Captain duties well and was a leader in the midfield.
10) D. Sturridge – 7.5/10
While some of his runs ran into nothing, most of his runs were productive. He was good on the ball and his work rate caused continued problems for the United defence. He earned Liverpool the penalty and took it himself. Even though De Gea got a fingertip to it, it was struck well enough to give Liverpool the lead.
11) R. Firmino – 9.5/10
He dazzled last night. He was quick, clever and had good vision. The Brazilian was at his creative best and was undoubtedly the man of the match. His constant passes ran havoc in the United defence. He created a lot of chances and was the person who saw the run of Sturridge for the penalty. He deservingly got Liverpool’s second goal for the match.
Substitutes
J. Allen – 6/10
Was brought in at the 64th minute to add some defensive boost to the Liverpool midfield. He had a good match and completely marked off Juan Mata. He was good with his passes too and hardly misplaced anything
D. Origi – 5/10
Was brought on for Firmino in the final 6 minutes and had little impact on the game. He caused Carrick a trouble or two and apart from that had a decent outing.