Ruben Amorim will always have Anfield. A reign that has brought many a historic low finally has the right kind of landmark result. As Manchester United belatedly recorded back-to-back league wins for the first time under the Portuguese, they triumphed on Liverpool’s home turf for the first time in almost a decade. Louis van Gaal, the previous United manager to take three points here, was sacked four months later, so this is no guarantee that Amorim will get three years, as Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants, but both the result and the manner of it felt genuinely auspicious.
And so it was Arne Slot who was left to contemplate a slump of unexpectedly seismic proportions and who was swathed in unflattering statistics. This is the first Liverpool side since 2014 to lose four matches in a row which is not a good look for a team who underwent a £450m makeover. They were beaten at Anfield in the Premier League for the first time in 13 months. Late goals have been a story of Liverpool’s season, but now they rue them. They have started to concede early on, too. They did both: behind after 62 seconds to Bryan Mbeumo, they were beaten by Harry Maguire’s 84th-minute decider.
So Maguire, who almost got a winner at Anfield in January, mustered one nine months later. The centre-back’s late heroics have been one of the most uplifting features of Amorim’s tenure. Another has been United’s ability to prove inspired underdogs and raise their game against the best. United have won too few games under the Portuguese but they have now beaten Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and, including a penalty shootout, Arsenal.
Arguably, this was the best of the lot. “I think that was the biggest win in my time at Manchester United,” said Amorim. He also delivered a self-deprecating aside. “I don’t have many wins in Manchester,” he said.
Nor, arguably, has he had enough occasions when he got both team selection and tactics right, but he did; indeed, Maguire was recalled and named player of the match. Amorim’s blueprint worked brilliantly, with United defiantly defending deep and counter-attacking with pace and incision. His side had character, too: six minutes after conceding an equaliser to Cody Gakpo, and when they could have been overwhelmed by waves of Liverpool attacks, United instead seized victory. Their chest-bumping celebrations spoke to how much it meant. The sight of Matheus Cunha, who had run many a mile, sinking to the sodden turf in exhaustion, was a sign of how much they had given. “If you have the spirit you can win any game,” said Amorim. It was why his side merited their triumph.
Liverpool’s slant was different. “If they come with a low block playing so many long balls the last thing you would want is to go 1-0 down,” said Slot. “If you had told me we would create eight, nine or 10 chances I would say that is not possible.” Cody Gakpo struck the woodwork three times, equalised once and should have done again, somehow heading wide after 87 minutes.
But United had a cohesion that Liverpool lacked. They were too disjointed. And if there was something compelling in the sight of them going for all-out attack, Slot overloading with forwards, perhaps that meant they had too few defensively-minded personnel left on the pitch. So when Bruno Fernandes hoisted a cross to the far post, Maguire could leap behind Ibrahima Konate to head in. It was a magnificent moment for a much-maligned figure. “He is a great example with everything he has been through,” said Amorim. Maguire is, among other things, an honest talker. His response to eventually getting consecutive victories was instructive. “It’s not a stat that we should even be speaking about because it is an embarrassing stat to have,” he said.
Maguire was central, in more ways than one, the rock at the heart of the rearguard. Amorim’s 3-4-3 was more of a 5-4-1, but it gave United scope to break. He dropped his target man, in Benjamin Sesko, but the elusive Cunha prospered as a false nine in a fluid forward line. Diogo Dalot was deployed on the left of the defence and excelled against Mohamed Salah who, two fine passes to Gakpo apart, was ineffective. But the bold selection was picking Amad Diallo at right wing-back: if that gamble was a reason why Gakpo, his immediate opponent, was so prominent, he gave Milos Kerkez the left-back his latest torrid afternoon. Amad was the provider when Fernandes almost doubled United’s lead and when Mbeumo put them ahead, barely a minute into proceedings. Kerkez had afforded Amad too much room. Liverpool were aggrieved that Alexis Mac Allister, inadvertently caught by Virgil van Dijk, was down, requiring four stitches and a bandage. “That is not an excuse for conceding the goal,” Slot nevertheless admitted.
As his side had a chaotic air at the back, Mason Mount also had two opportunities to put United two up. Liverpool had Gakpo; the lowest profile of their forwards and the most menacing. His curler rebounded back off the post, His cross, deflected off Fernandes, clipped the bar, his shot arrowed into the upright. He levelled with a tap-in from a centre from Federico Chiesa, again a catalytic substitute.
The players signed to be Liverpool’s talismanic figures were quieter. Florian Wirtz spent the first hour on the bench. Alexander Isak started, finally recorded a shot on target in the Premier League for Liverpool, but did not get a goal: Senne Lammens saved it well. In just his second outing for United, the Belgian showed a presence, an authority. “He was really important,” added Amorim. “But two shots on the post can change the narrative.”
It was a way in which he talked down the triumph and dampened expectations. “Forget about top four, top six,” said Amorim. “What we need to do is try to win three games in a row.” And the aim for Liverpool is to not lose five in a row.
