Manchester United condemned Liverpool to a fourth successive defeat as Harry Maguire’s late goal sealed a 2-1 win over the spluttering Premier League champions.
After losses against Crystal Palace, Galatasaray and Chelsea, Arne Slot’s side endured their most painful setback of the season at the hands of their bitter rivals on Sunday.
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Bryan Mbeumo put United in front after two minutes and although Cody Gakpo equalised in the 78th minute, Maguire grabbed his club’s first win at Anfield since 2016 with an 84th-minute header.
Maguire’s goal also secured back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time in Ruben Amorim’s tenure as United boss.
The defeat leaves Liverpool four points adrift of Arsenal at the top of the table and Arne Slot still searching for answers on how to get the right balance after splashing out nearly 450 million pounds ($604m) on new players in the transfer market.
United close to within two points of their historic football rivals and up to ninth in the table to ease the pressure on Amorim after his biggest win in nearly a year in charge.
After three consecutive defeats for the first time in Slot’s reign, Liverpool could barely have imagined a worse start on Sunday.
Mbeumo sped past Virgil van Dijk with ease before firing past Giorgi Mamardashvili from Amad Diallo’s pass after barely a minute.
The home side and support were furious that play was not stopped in the build-up after Alexis MacAllister went down with a head injury, inflicted by his own captain, van Dijk.
Slot left big-money signing Florian Wirtz on the bench for the second consecutive game as he looked in vain to find the right balance between defence and attack.
Gakpo should have levelled for the defending champions when he hit the post from Mohamed Salah’s through ball in Liverpool’s one flowing move of the first half.
Bruno Fernandes then spurned a glorious chance to double the Red Devils’ lead when he hit the outside of the post when unmarked from the edge of the area.
At the other end, Senne Lammens was rarely troubled in the first 45 minutes, but produced a big save when called upon to deny Alexander Isak his first Premier League goal since joining Liverpool for a British transfer record 125 million pounds ($168m).
A Gakpo deflected cross then came back off the post and the Dutchman rattled the woodwork for a third time early in the second half.
Slot turned to his near 200 million pounds ($268m) in forward options off the bench as Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike were introduced on the hour mark to join Salah, Gakpo and Isak in a five-man attack.
Salah has scored more goals than any other player in this fixture, but his lack of form showed in a wild finish to slice wide with just Lammens to beat at the back post.
Liverpool’s wealth of attacking talent finally broke the door down when Federico Chiesa, who had replaced Isak moments earlier, drilled in a low cross that Gakpo converted from point-blank range.
Yet, their defensive frailties meant parity only lasted six minutes as Maguire was left unmarked to head in Fernandes’s looping cross.
Gakpo should still have rescued a point when he headed wide with the goal gaping from Jeremie Frimpong’s inviting delivery.
But Liverpool fell to their first league defeat at Anfield in over a year in another blow to their hopes of usurping United with a record 21st English top-flight title.
Maguire told Sky Sports that it “meant everything” to get the win.
“It has been a long time coming to come to this ground and pick up three points,” he said.
“The old cliche is that it is only three points, but it definitely isn’t – it means a lot more than that for the club, the boys and the fans.”
Van Dijk told Sky Sports that Liverpool need to stick together to get through such a difficult period.
“It is an interesting time because we have to stick together, not just us as players but as a club and the fans who want us to win,” Liverpool’s captain said.
“We need to stay humble, stay working and keep our confidence as high as possible. When things get tough, it is important we keep the mentality of being there for each other. It is a long season,” he said.
In Sunday’s earlier Premier League game, Emi Buendia’s curling shot sealed a 2-1 comeback win for Aston Villa against Tottenham.
The victory continued Villa’s resurgence after a desperate start to the season and denied Spurs the chance to provisionally move up to second in the standings.
Buendia shimmied his way across the edge of the box in the 77th minute at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before sweeping a perfect shot low into the bottom corner.
It was Villa’s fifth-straight win in all competitions after failing to pick up a victory in their first six games of the campaign.
It ended Spurs’ seven-game unbeaten run that looked set to continue when Rodrigo Bentancur fired the home team ahead after just five minutes.
Morgan Rogers levelled the game in the 37th before Villa went on to take all three points and consign Tottenham coach Thomas Frank to his second league loss since taking over in the summer.