Liverpool showed their great mental strength to come out with a point from Old Trafford
Jurgen Klopp’s trips to Old Trafford haven’t been fruitful since he took over at Liverpool.
The German is yet to win at the home of our bitter rivals and we missed the chance to do that again last night.
Klopp did turn things around in the second half as Adam Lallana scored an 85
Facing the Red Devils at their own home is never easy and they went ahead under controversial circumstances. Marcus Rashford’s effort should never have stood after Divock Origi was fouled.
VAR allowed the goal to stand even after clips showed Origi being clipped by Victor Lindelof.
Credit must be given to United as they had a plan. They defended deep, hit us on the counter and stopped our full-backs from delivering crosses into the box.
We didn’t help the situation by playing Divock Origi on the left and switching Mane to the right.
Liverpool find a way again to get out of jail
This wasn’t the first game this season where we weren’t at our best. Factors such as returning from the international break and the return of Joel Matip and Alisson certainly made us look a little rusty.
The attack was out of sorts without Mohamed Salah, and Origi failed to prove he can start games for us.
The Belgian showed he is great coming off the bench but still needs to work more on his game. The goal from United certainly angered Jurgen Klopp and he ran down the tunnel at half-time to get the team going again.
The second half was a different story as we dominated possession and a change in tactics worked. Adam Lallana was playing on the right, and he ghosted in to score the equaliser from Robertson’s cross.
We still had five minutes to get the winner with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain coming close, but it was not to be.
A point at Old Trafford isn’t a bad result given how poorly we played. We somehow found a way to get something from a game where we were dire. This has been a key feature of the Reds over the past 18 months, and we proved our big-game mentality by getting something from the game.
The point reminds me of the one against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last season. We had better chances in that game to score but it still was important to get something from that game.
Of course, we should have battered this United side given the gulf in class between the pair, but the referee had a big say in that.
Atkinson and VAR have a stin ker
Jordan Henderson suggested that United were getting more calls and in the first half, it was evident.
There were instances when our players were brought down or shoved off the ball. However, as soon as we did something similar the referee blew for a free-kick.
Martin Atkinson didn’t think Origi was fouled, and VAR is useless when it comes to such calls. The only good VAR has done is with offsides and checking for handball in the box. There can be no complaints
I was pretty certain VAR would have called off Lallana’s effort simply because we scored at Old Trafford.
VAR is like the big brother in the playground that comes to save the referee and provides more backing to the younger sibling.
What is the point of having screens on the pitch if the referee is never going to look at them? The ‘clear and obvious’ error has to go down the bin if VAR is going to get the decisions right.
They have done it in the Bundesliga, Serie A and La Liga, then why not here? It stinks of complacency and this won’t be the last call that causes problems for a team.
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It often felt like we were against 13 men, and in these circumstances, getting a point from Old Trafford is something to be positive about.
