Man United’s ‘aggressive’ first-half display against Liverpool is hailed

Tim Howard and Robbie Mustoe hailed Manchester United’s first-half performance in their huge derby victory over Liverpool Monday night.

The Red Devils led 1-0 at half-time following a Jadon Sancho strike in the 15th minute and went on to win 2-1 following a Marcus Rashford strike, with Mo Salah netting a consolation goal. It was United’s press in the first period which caught the eye of the NBC pundits.   

‘The beginning of everything is tempo and aggressive pressing and winning the ball back,’ Mustoe explained during their Premier League coverage. 

‘It’s kind of simple but that triggers everything else and when you’ve got center backs that are OK to come in and win the ball back and full backs that are OK to push forward and press the ball and win the ball. 

‘It wasn’t a super high press but anytime the ball was in the midfield area going up to the front players the press was there, winning the ball back. That triggers the front players because then there’s transitions and they can make their runs which they did really, really well.

Liverpool may have had the lion’s share of the ball but they failed to match the intensity and fervor of their bitter rivals. 

Jadon Sancho wheeled away in celebration after giving United a deserved lead over Liverpool

‘Liverpool had 70 percent possession it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter,’ Howard said. 

‘They turned up this is what we wanted. I look at (Diogo) Dalot steaming into tackles right from the beginning, taking fouls. 

‘(Lisandro) Martinez, everyone’s asking questions about Martinez, everybody. He’s the one shoving and pushing and shoulder barging and getting in the face of Mo Salah. That’s the bare minimum that United has asked for.’

Howard went on to praise under-pressure Marcus Rashford, who had been selected from the start by Erik ten Hag, with Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench. The former US shot stopper also credited the often-maligned midfield behind him.

The Red Devils thoroughly deserved their half-time lead, totally dominating their rivals

‘Everything has been triggered from behind him, he’s been off to the races and gotten into gaps [Joe] Gomez has left but that’s because the players behind him have been lively,’ he said. 

‘Bruno Fernandes, I think [Scott] McTominay’s been good winning the ball back, playing forward. That’s part of the process as well, not just winning the ball back, because you can win it and play it side-to-side. Getting it and playing vertical, and it helps Rashford.’

The former Red Devils goalkeeper questioned Jurgen Klopp’s team selection and in particular his choice of midfield three.  

‘When I first saw the team sheet come out and looked at Henderson, Elliott and Milner. It just wasn’t as dynamic as I thought it could’ve been,’ he said.

‘He’s (Milner) been slow, and Harvey Elliott doesn’t have quite yet the ability to unlock defenses with a pass like Thiago does.’

Manchester United have never lost in the Premier League at Old Trafford when leading at half-time and held on to a vital three points to kickstart their season and leave Liverpool down in 16th place.

United beat bitter rivals Liverpool 2-1 at home Monday night to kickstart their season