Manchester United, having drawn with Liverpool, changed the leader of the English championship to Arsenal

In the next round of the English Championship, Manchester United, which is in crisis, was able to hold out against Liverpool away, playing with them in a draw – 0:0, and knocked them off the top line of a surprisingly dense tournament table. It was taken by Arsenal, a point ahead of Liverpool and Aston Villa.

The match that capped the 17th round was played to the ringing accompaniment of comments from experts from various respected British media resources, who could not contain their admiration, or rather even amazement, at how interesting everything was in the current championship. Well, what a deal, what an intrigue! Not a plot, but a fairy tale. Everyone is already accustomed to the dominance of Manchester City. And for some reason he is shaking and shaking. The day before, he experienced another breakdown, playing in a draw at home – 2:2 – with Crystal Palace, and allowed the opponents to win back in stoppage time. And he’s not even in the top three. And the three are getting further and further away.

And inside this trio it’s cramped, like in a subway car at rush hour. Nobody wants to concede, including Aston Villa, which unexpectedly joined the “gold race”, which on Sunday saved itself in a terribly tense match with Brentford: it was losing 0:1, but in the end it turned everything upside down, achieving a win – 2:1. And in a parallel match, Arsenal put the finishing touches on Brighton, 2:0, and remained ahead of the Birmingham team, probably immediately switching to the Liverpool game, which started a little later. What if it grows together so much that it remains ahead of its owners, who approached the tour as leaders with a minimal margin?

This was, of course, an option that seemed fantastic to rational people. It’s all about Manchester United. There are countless losses, in fact, half of the core: Casemiru, Lisandro Martinez, Harry Maguire, Mason Mount are injured, Burun Fernandes got disqualified quite inopportunely. The form is simply disgusting: misfire after misfire. Last weekend – a 0:3 defeat from Bournemouth, midweek – a collapse in the group stage of the Champions League. The team is in crisis.

And for those who watched the match, most likely, their memory helpfully suggested what the last meeting of these rivals at the Anfield Road stadium was leading to. And it taxied in the spring to the amazing humiliation of the Manchester team, defeated 0:7. And this was not the same Manchester United that it is now, but quite strong.

So, the scenario with a repetition of that disaster looked for some time much more realistic than the scenario with an outcome that Arsenal and Aston Villa fans would rejoice at. Everything interesting is on the Manchester half. No, more precisely, right next to the Manchester penalty area. The guests are constantly rushing around, thwarting Liverpool’s attacks, constantly lining up to fight back at the next set piece. And they are being suffocated and suffocated by pressure from this new Liverpool midfield.

But – a paradox – this scenario does not work out. Liverpool presses and presses. He possesses the ball more than twice as often as Manchester United, and the advantage in shots on goal is somehow cosmic: a dozen and a half in the first half versus two for the Manchester team. But there are almost no moments. This seemingly unassuming Manchester defense holds up amazingly well. In fact, everything scary for her before the break was limited to Virgil van Dijk’s header, which was pulled under the crossbar by goalkeeper Andre Onana. Fantastic!

And she didn’t go away after the break. And the simultaneous substitution a quarter of an hour after him of Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai, two important elements of this Liverpool midline that never found a way to strangle Manchester United, was tempting to be interpreted as a sign that the hosts’ coach Jurgen Klopp was in despair, that he was not very understands what his problems are, trying to carry out a shake-up at random.

The game soon, however, really took on different, brighter colors. But not only Liverpool, but also Manchester United perked up. And the chance that appeared for his forward Rasmus Højlunn was, it must be said, more convincing than the excellent chance that Trent Alexander-Arnold missed half a minute before: Højlunn fell virtually face-to-face with goalkeeper Alisson, firing at point-blank range.

At the end of the match, however, Liverpool’s onslaught acquired the features of an absolutely crushing one. “Manchester United” endured with all its strength, saving itself on the thin one: blocking other people’s shots, somehow coping with the crosses that poured into its penalty area. Once such a cross ricocheted into Luke Shaw’s hand, but VAR forgave him.

Already in stoppage time, Manchester United lost Diogo Dalo, who was sent off after an emotional outburst. The final Liverpool assault was desperate and powerful. But it was all in vain. Manchester United pulled it off and knocked Liverpool off the top line of the table. Now the Liverpudlians, along with Aston Villa, are a point behind Arsenal. Manchester City are four points behind this tandem.

Alexey Dospehov