Not all ‘white’ on the night for Manchester United.
It may have been the 195th meeting between the two biggest rivals in English football, but it was the first time the giants had come head-to-head in a European competition.
The red of Liverpool gained the upper hand as they won the first leg against a United side that lacked any conviction and had keeper David de Gea to thank for keeping the scoreline down to two.
Louis van Gaal had recalled Marouane Fellaini, Guillermo Varela and Morgan Schneiderlin to the side in place of Matteo Darmian, Michael Carrick and Ander Herrera who would all start on the bench. There was also a recall for Bastian Schweinsteiger as a substitute.
Here was the United starting XI: De Gea, Varela, Chris Smalling, Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo, Schneiderlin, Fellaini, Memphis Depay, Mata, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford.
Mata was once again given the honour of captaining United even though Smalling was on the pitch.
United got the tie underway attacking the Kop and straight from the off they almost grabbed the opener as Memphis delivered a cross that evaded the defenders, but the onrushing Rashford was slightly caught by surprise and the ball rebounded off the young forward’s knee.
The Spanish referee Carlos Velasco Carballo is known for his brandishing of cards, as if they were going out of fashion – with 10 reds this season, and he started his nightly spree as he booked Liverpool captain Henderson for a high challenge on Schneiderlin.
The match started at a very lively pace with both sides up for the fight, heavy challenges set against a great atmosphere generated by both sets of fans.
United enjoyed the majority of the possession in the opening quarter of an hour, but as usual created little or no chances of note.
Twenty minutes of the match gone and Liverpool struck the first blow as they won a very debatable penalty after Depay was adjudged to have brought down Nathaniel Clyne right on the edge of the penalty area. The referee took a few seconds to make up his mind. When he did, he booked Depay and Daniel Sturridge dispatched the spot-kick only just past De Gea, who managed to get a hand on to the ball.
The goal buoyed the home side and in the next attack they would have gone 2-0 up, but for the brilliance and athleticism of De Gea who saved Philippe Coutinho’s certain tap-in right on his goal line. That save could literally turn out to be United’s lifeline in the tie for if the home side had scored a second so quickly it could have been game over.
After the goal United responded slowly and it wasn’t until Mata almost weaved his way through the defenders in the box that they created anything close to a chance.
De Gea came to the rescue again for his side on 30 minutes when he made himself big in front of Sturridge to block the striker’s shot.
The awkward style of the returning Fellaini earned United a free-kick opportunity in a dangerous area which was fired in by Depay with a disappointing end as it sailed harmlessly wide.
United’s free kicks have been woefully poor this season with the exception of Mata’s effort against Watford. But it’s a sad state of affairs when they can’t even get the efforts on target compared to the past when you knew something was going to come from them.
As the first-half entered its final minutes the game went a little stale until De Gea proved how invaluable he is with a reaction save from an Adam Lallana deflected effort.
Rashford became the second United player to be booked on the stroke of half-time after a rash challenge on Alberto Moreno.
Half-time and United trailed 1-0 without having a shot on goal. They had De Gea to thank for not going in at least three goals to the worse as he produced three saves that could have a massive bearing on the tie overall. And he did manage to get his fingertips to the penalty, however, not enough to prevent the ball going in.
It’s fair to say that United would have to be the happier of the two sides to be only down by one goal. They were playing a dangerous game by sitting back and allowing Liverpool to come at them. An improvement of huge proportion would have to be seen in the second half if the Red Devils were to get anything out of this game.
At the start of the second-half Van Gaal made a tactical substitution in an attempt to get his team back into the game by replacing Rashford with Carrick. The change meant that Smalling, Rojo and Carrick played in a back three formation with Blind and Varela as wing-backs.
United had their first shot on goal in the 52nd minute of the match with an effort from Schneiderlin which was straight at Simon Mignolet in goal.
De Gea produced another high class save as he tipped over a powerful long range effort from Coutinho.
United’s new formation looked to be paying off as they enjoyed a long spell of possession and applied pressure on the Liverpool defence without creating the killer ball needed to grab the vital equaliser. Martial came the closest during this spell as he almost got his head to a cross by Varela.
Fellaini became the latest United player to be cautioned for a swing and miss with his leg at Clyne.
Depay almost threaded the ball into the path of Martial but the ball fell a little behind the French striker. However, this was better play from the visitors.
De Gea was at it again, this time, he produced a diving punch to deny a Clyne drive from distance. If United do go on to the quarter-finals, then they only have to thank one player and that’s the keeper who must wish he had a quality defence in front of him.
Liverpool wasted two golden chances to extend their lead as first Henderson blasted a great chance well wide then Coutinho blasted a free-kick towards goal clearly not realising it was indirect.
As the game entered the final 20 minutes Roberto Firmino doubled the home side’s lead when he beat De Gea with a close range tap-in following a poor attempted clearance from Carrick. All United could hope for now was damage limitation and an away goal to take back to Old Trafford.
Bastian Schweinsteiger made a much welcome return when he came on along with Herrera for Mata and Schneiderlin for the last 10 minutes.
The visitors chased the game in the final few minutes without worrying the home defence and the only concern for United was whether Fellaini would stay on the pitch after some challenges that could have earned him a second card and a ban if the elbow was seen. It was the Belgian who came close with a header that only just flew wide of the post following a Schweinsteiger cross.
The match ended with Liverpool on top in the tie and in the driving seat against an United team that had nothing to offer in any way, shape or form. Two errors of judgement by Depay and Carrick cost their side dearly and add to that only one shot on target it was no wonder they lost.
This was another low for Van Gaal and his team as they will have it all to do at Old Trafford. There was no sign of the drive or passion that would make you believe that they could turn the tie around next week.
It doesn’t look good for the upcoming FA Cup match against West Ham this Sunday. A team who has a splendid away record this season against an United side slipping further down the slippery slope of failure.
By Miles Dunton