Manchester United picked up their first win of the 2022-23 Premier League campaign under new manager Erik Ten Hag on Tuesday after beating their arch-rivals Liverpool 2-1 at Old Trafford. The biggest news before the match started was that Cristiano Ronaldo and club captain Harry Maguire were benched for the big game.
Ten Hag however made the brave calls that paid off handsomely, as United delivered an anti-climax after getting beaten by Brentford and Brighton Hove Albion.
Jadon Sancho began the scoring for United as he drew first blood in the 16th minute to put his side in the lead. Later, shortly after the hour mark, Marcus Rashford netted another goal to put his side two goals to the good.
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Liverpool's talismanic forward Mohamed Salah did pull one back for his side in the 81st minute, but it was too little, too late for Jurgen Klopp's men as Ten Hag celebrated his first win since becoming United's new coach.
The Red Devils were off to a blistering start as Sancho showed immense composure to beat two Liverpool defenders with a dummy and finish past Alisson Becker. Credit must also go however to Anthony Elanga who delivered a teasing cross from the byline.
Once United got their noses in front, they tried to catch their rivals on the counterattack. Anthony Martial played Rashford in behind the Liverpool defence and he kept his calm to beat the goalie and double the home side's lead.
Salah then pulled one back for Liverpool shortly before the end of regulation time, but it proved to be no more than simply a consolation goal as United held on to pick up a hugely important win over their rivals to lift themselves up from the bottom half of the table.
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