In the 30th round of the Premier League, Manchester United visited Anfield against Liverpool, Salah scored twice, Luis Díaz and Mane scored a goal each, Liverpool won 4-0, the first double since the 2013/14 season. After Liverpool won, a two-point lead over Manchester City in one more round temporarily reached the top, while Manchester United were overtaken by Arsenal due to the goal difference disadvantage and slipped to 6th in the league.
United's number one star, Cristiano Ronaldo, was sidelined due to the death of his son, and Lonnick made four changes to the starting line-up. De Gea scored, with Wan Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Phil Jones and Diogu Dalo forming a defensive line, Matic, Pogba and Bruno Fernandez joining in midfield, with Anthony Erlanga and Rashford as strikers.
Referring to the reason why Jones started, Lonnick said it was because of his performance in the last appearance. 'Phil [Jones] should be an important part of our backline, he played well in that position against Wolves and I had to choose between him and Eric Baie and that's why I chose him.
Players on both sides wear black veils on their arms to mourn for Ronaldo's son. Lonnick praised: "This once again shows that there are more important things in life than football, the whole team, the whole club is with him, I fully support him staying with his family."
With injuries and accidents leaving United short of manpower, young players Hannibal Megerbury and Alejandro Ganacjo are once again on the bench, with McTomine not even injured on the sidelines. "Scott [McTomine] only comes in an emergency, he didn't train with us, he didn't even train yesterday, but he told us he could play 10 to 15 minutes if necessary," Longnick explained.
United began with a high press, but the defence behind them revealed a gap. In the 5th minute, Mane's midfielder launched a counter-attack with a straight kick, Arnold and Salah fired both arrows on the right, and finally Salah crossed, Luis Díaz grabbed the point and pushed the empty goal into the net, Liverpool led Manchester United 1-0. Arnold kicked the ball into the net as he celebrated scoring, nearly hitting De Gea, and the two got into an argument.
United's defensive organisation was quite bad in conceding goals, wing-back Dalo was drawn to the side defence, and Behind him Maguire and Jones were not fast enough to keep up with Liverpool's fast horses, so they conceded the ball and fell behind, which was very unfavorable to the Red Devils, who were mainly defensive in this game. The data shows that this is United's 45th Premier League goal this season, which has surpassed the number of goals conceded last season.
In the 7th minute of the game, the fans applauded Ronaldo and encouraged him, although he did not go with the team to Anfield. Just ten minutes into the opening round, United suffered another blow, Pogba left the field due to injury, and Jesse Lingard came on as a substitute. A few minutes into this double red meeting, it is feared to become Pogba's Manchester United farewell battle.
United were besieged by Liverpool and were unable to fight back, losing the goal again in the 22nd minute. Matip, Díaz and Mane paired up with consecutive kicks, Mane sent a delicate diagonal pass, Salah pressed Dalo, left-foot low shot into the bottom left corner of the goal, breaking the sports goal drought, Liverpool extended the lead 2-0.
Liverpool's new signing Díaz received a diagonal pass from Fabinho inside the penalty area to score the ball, but fortunately he was offside, the goal was cancelled and United escaped.
United changed the formation to 541 and made one or two effective counter-attacks before half-time, especially Lindelof's long pass accurately behind the Liverpool defence, unfortunately Rashford stopped the ball too poorly to form a shot.
In another game, United replaced Jones with Sancho, intending to launch a counterattack. In the 55th minute, Sancho fired low inside the penalty area to complete United's first shot of the game. Liverpool slowed down their attacking pace and United were given more attacking opportunities. Sancho cut a clever cross from the left and Marcus Rashford and Erlanga's consecutive shots were saved by Alisson. The referee raised the flag to award offside, but the slow mirror showed that Master La was successfully anti-offside, and if he scored VAR, he would award a valid goal.
Manchester United seemed to improve the scene, but Liverpool scored again on the first shot! In the 68th minute, Robertson stole the ball on the left and dribbled forward, passing to Díaz on the left, who inverted the triangle cross, Mane no one to defend and push the dead corner, Liverpool 3-0 Manchester United, Liverpool's trident all completed the passing success.
In the final moments of the match, Lonnick replaced Hannibal Mejebry, who had a transfer fee of up to 10 million euros. In the 85th minute, United conceded another goal because of their mistakes. Hannibal was cut off at the back, Jota went straight, Salah's pick shot hit Wan Bissaka and fell into the net, and Liverpool won 4-0. In two legs this season, Salah has scored five times against The United goal.
The 203rd Double Red Games ended with another big victory for Liverpool, with United swallowing nine shots in two legs and receiving a clean sheet, which was not unexpected. Liverpool's home side remains unbeaten this season and is very strong.
Prior to the match against Manchester United, the team had won 10 consecutive Premier League games at Anfield, led six times at half-time in the past seven home games until the end of the game, and kept five clean sheets at home in the last six home games. At home against Manchester United, Liverpool have remained unbeaten in six games, scoring three or more goals against the Red Devils in the last two matches in all competitions.
United did not surrender early as they did at Old Trafford in the first leg, but they were still defeated in terms of technology and tactics. Lonnick arranged a 5-guard defensive formation, but pressed for a high press. Kicking and rushing with tightly defended personnel is obviously a deadly way to play.
Once the frontcourt can't be grabbed, the prairie behind it becomes a paradise for Liverpool Sah (Rah) horses (inside) galloping and crazy bungee jumping (Yas). Norwich, the bottom team in the Premier League, can score twice in the Manchester United defence, not to mention Liverpool, who has scored the most goals. In less than half an hour, United conceded two goals and the defeat was decided.
In fact, the only way for United to play with Liverpool is to swing the iron barrel formation, use the long passes of Lindelof and Pogba, hit the opponent behind, play the advantage of Rashford's speed, and hope that the shooting technique of the British demon star will be online in this game.
Unfortunately, Master La still did not wear shooting boots, and Manchester United did not even score a face-saving goal. At the same time, Manchester United, which was behind, had to invest more in attack, while Liverpool took the initiative to retreat, focusing on offensive efficiency and scoring goals again.
The loss to Liverpool should be expected by Manchester United, and the team's final hope for fourth place depends mainly on the subsequent two big games between Arsenal and home to Liverpool, when Cristiano Ronaldo will return and improve his ability to score goals. If they lose the last two games in April, United's fight for champions league places will be completely out of the game.