Harry Maguire headed home with Cristiano Ronaldo-like precision and did a knee slide in front of the home fans at Anfield before going towards the away end and acknowledging the supporters who were singing his name. The Anfield ghost was eventually buried. Before Sunday, Manchester United’s last win against their biggest rivals, Liverpool, at this venue came in 2016. Juan Mata then. Maguire now. A decade of hurt was finally healed.
Liverpool came into this marquee Premier League fixture with three losses on the spin. It's four-in-a-row now under Arne Slot, but we would come to that later. The defending Premier League champions are still in a good moment. They are still strong favourites to win back-to-back titles. But what does this victory mean for United — the fallen giants who are going through their banter era?
Can United build on this? There have been so many false dawns for this great club since 2013, when Sir Alex Ferguson, the greatest manager in the history of the game, sauntered into a golden sunset. Years of institutional mediocrity has damaged United almost beyond repair. Will there be a resurrection, or this win is just a one-off?
The Liverpool game was supposed to be a prelude to United manager Ruben Amorim’s sacking before Christmas, on the heels of the club co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s dreaded public vote of confidence for the Portuguese. Only time will tell if the win at Anfield could be Amorim’s Mark Robins moment. For now though, it has given him a new lease of life.
The 40-year-old knows that things can change quickly at the most scrutinised sports entity in the world and another crisis might be just three defeats away. No wonder that Amorim didn't get carried away with the result yesterday and put things in perspective.
“I think that was the biggest win in my time at Manchester United,” he told Sky Sports.
“It means a lot today but tomorrow, it won’t mean a lot. It’s three points and it’s a good victory. It was a good day and now I am concerned about Brighton. I will enjoy it but let’s focus on Brighton.”
For so long, Amorim has been a prisoner of his tactically stubbornness. He is tweaking of late — not in terms of formation but the style of play — and getting results. For the first time, United won back-to-back games under his charge. Long balls and a low block have started to pay dividends, and Senne Lamnens, the team's new goalkeeper, is central to the change. From Andre Onana, unarguably United’s worst goalkeeper ever, to Lamnens is a massive upgrade. His teammates trust him.
Liverpool, on the other hand, have suffered four straight defeats for the first time since 2014. Is this just a blip? Slot is probably suffering from the second-season blues. Last term, the team was on autopilot. Slot continued with his predecessor Jurgen Klopp's style except for making things a little more compact. It worked wonderfully well. This season, the Dutch manager is trying to implement his own ideas and it hasn't quite worked yet. Slot is expected to turn things around. It is very difficult to fail with the squad that he has at his disposal.
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