Adam Lallana’s late goal denied Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a statement win as Liverpool came back to take a point from Manchester United in a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford on Sunday.
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Marcus Rashford scored the goal, which was upheld by VAR despite a seeming foul in the build-up, while VAR also took a Liverpool goal off the board for handball.
Liverpool was bidding to move to 9-0 on the Premier League season by claiming its ninth-straight away league win and 18th consecutive win overall, but they’ll take the point.
Liverpool leads the league with 25 points, six more than Man City, while United rises 14th with 10 points.
Three stars of the match
1. Marcus Rashford -- He didn’t look right over the first 20 minutes, but kept working until he found the opening goal. The effort didn’t stop there, as he managed four successful dribbles and wasn’t credited with a single time dispossessed.
2. Adam Lallana -- Jurgen Klopp’s 71st minute sub scored his first goal since May 2017, coming off the bench and slipping behind United’s defense to punish with an equalizer.
Adam Lallana as easy as you like 😤 pic.twitter.com/VNDFdDr2XF
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) October 20, 2019
3. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer -- Credit where it’s due, especially when we’ve been critical of the Manchester United boss, but Liverpool never found an answer for the Red Devils’ back three. Perhaps more credit to Solskjaer for not going away from it when Axel Tuanzebe went down in warm-ups.
Honorable mention: Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Fabinho, Scott McTominay, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
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United held the ball for much of the first 10 minutes, but didn’t bother Alisson Becker.
The Reds, on the other hand, saw a 13th minute dribble and shot from Georginio Wijnaldum turn into a David De Gea save.
Cagey and tight, the next shot on target was a 25th minute low effort from Scott McTominay to Alisson.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka was probably the best player on the pitch in the opening half hour, and saw a strong cross cut out by Virgil van Dijk in the 28th.
Joel Matip spotted a streaking Sadio Mane for a lightning counter out of nothing, but Divock Origi couldn’t make much out of Mane’s feed and De Gea collected the shot.
That’s when United took its lead with one of two first half goals to go to VAR.
Rashford got on the business end of a Daniel James cross, which came two moves after Victor Lindelof kicked Divock Origi as the Belgian lost possession with a sloppy touch. A foul if it’s called, but it wasn’t and VAR did not overrule it.
Mane then had a goal chalked off for a handball, VAR catching a touch most refs wouldn’t.
Liverpool took hold of the game shortly after halftime, but physical United continued its tight marking and heavy tackling.
Daniel James was waylaid on a 50/50 ball with Fabinho and play questionably went on as James lay on the turf with an apparent head injury.
Substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain saw a deflected effort go wide in the 64th, as Jurgen Klopp took off Divock Origi and tried to find an answer to United’s back three.
The next sub was Adam Lallana for Jordan Henderson, as Liverpool had 20 minutes plus stoppage to find an equalizer.
He was the difference maker, as Robertson’s cross bounded through a sea of United defenders to meet him at the back post.