Liverpool vs Manchester United. Premier League.
AnfieldAttendance60,275.
Liverpool 2
- C Gakpo (59th minute)
- M Salah (70th minute pen)
Manchester United 2
- L Martínez (52nd minute)
- A Diallo (80th minute)
Liverpool 2-2 Man Utd: Amad Diallo goal earns deserved draw to deny Premier League leaders at Anfield
Report and free match highlights as Liverpool miss the chance to move eight clear after being held to a 2-2 draw with Manchester United at Anfield; Lisandro Martinez opened the scoring before Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah had turned it around
Monday 6 January 2025 06:03, UK
Amad Diallo's late goal earned Manchester United a deserved point as they defied recent form to draw 2-2 against leaders Liverpool in a thriller at Anfield.
Lisandro Martinez had blasted United into a second-half lead but Cody Gakpo's leveller was followed by a Mohamed Salah penalty that briefly looked to have earned the victory that would have sent Arne Slot's side eight points clear at the top of the Premier League.
But Amad swept home to the delight of the away supporters and secured a result that offers some encouragement to Ruben Amorim and moves his United side above West Ham into 13th.
Harry Maguire could even have won it for the visitors in the final seconds but skied his effort over the crossbar.
- As it happened: How it played out at Anfield
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Trent has game to forget
Liverpool are still six points clear with a game in hand on Arsenal but this was an unconvincing effort to kick off 2025, one full of errors.
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"It will feel like an opportunity lost for Liverpool," said Jamie Carragher on co-commentary for Sky Sports.
The returning Ibrahima Konate endured a difficult afternoon but that was nothing compared to Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The Liverpool right-back was culpable for United's opener, losing possession and his man, but that was just one element of an alarming performance. Alexander-Arnold's distribution was uncharacteristically dismal, his defending a problem throughout.
Booked late on, he was hooked in favour of Conor Bradley who did more during his brief stint than Alexander-Arnold, a transfer target for Real Madrid, had mustered all match. "Trent is not at the races," said Carragher.
Man Utd's best under Amorim?
Amorim had pointed to the preparation time that United had enjoyed after a hectic festive period. "We have had more time to train, two days in a row. I think that can help us." That showed in how organised his United team looked from the outset.
Everton were beaten 4-0 at Old Trafford but this was better as United succeeded in frustrating Liverpool, preventing them from building momentum early on. Luis Diaz fired over and Alexis Mac Allister saw a first-time shot saved by Andre Onana, but that was it.
United had moments before their goals. Amad got his header wrong after Diogo Dalot got in behind, while Rasmus Hojlund had a shot saved by Alisson on the angle. Even the second Liverpool goal was unfortunate, a handball call against Matthijs de Ligt.
They could even have won it and it would hardly have been unjust. Joshua Zirkzee was in behind down the right channel, opting to square the ball to Maguire, but the pass was a bobbling one that the burly centre-back contrived to blaze over Alisson's crossbar.
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Neville: It was a massive change
Sky Sports' Gary Neville on Manchester United's performance:
"It was a massive change. It was the best performance under Ruben Amorim if not all season, by a mile, to come to Anfield, the best team in the league all year.
"It surpasses the victory at [Manchester] City, they're in a bad moment, and they were fortunate to get that victory.
"But today they were magnificent, they fully deserved their victory - sorry, it felt like one. There's no Manchester United fan who woke up and wasn't expecting the worst.
"[Kobbie] Mainoo, [Manuel] Ugarte and [Bruno] Fernandes controlled midfield against [Ryan] Gravenberch, [Curtis] Jones and Mac Allister, who have been outstanding all season.
"The backline did well, but they were the standouts. It was an outstanding performance."
Amorim pleased with mentality
Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim speaking in the press conference:
"I want to see my team play so much better, but I think the most important thing to address today is the mentality. That is the key for everything. Today we were a different team, not because of the system, not because of the technical aspect of the game [or] the tactical aspect of the game.
"We face the competition in the way that we are supposed to face every day. Training and match. It doesn't matter the place, the opponents, we need to face them every day like that."
Carra: Trent was really poor
Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher on Trent Alexander-Arnold's performance:
"I thought he was really poor. The game couldn't have gone much worse for him, there was always going to be focus on him.
"I was expecting him to put in a performance he has put in so often where he dominates the game from right-back. He's a playmaker. I felt Manchester United's system would play into his hands, there'd be a lot of space to get his head up and put crosses in.
"I thought he'd be thinking about how everyone's talking about him negatively, and that he'd put in a really big performance. He was poor defensively, but there was nothing going forward on the ball.
"Only he knows if the talk affected him, but the fact he was so poor in the first game after Real Madrid put a bid in tells me it must have affected him."
Slot: Rumours did not affect Trent
Liverpool boss Arne Slot disagreed that Real Madrid's impact affected Alexander-Arnold:
"I don't believe in those things, but I think nine out of 10 people will tell you that it affected him. But I'm one of the 10 that tells you that I don't think that affected him.
"What affected him is that he had to play Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot, which are two starters from Portugal, great, great, great players.
"And we have a fantastic player here, Diogo Jota, and he's not even playing for Portugal, or mostly he's not playing. So that tells you how much quality United has.
"And if these players set themselves to a game, and that is what United once in a while does, then it's very difficult to play against them.
"And I think that is more difficult for Trent to play against Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot than it is [to deal with] the rumours that were there during the week. But that's my opinion, and probably everybody's going to tell you that it had to do with the rumours."
