SUMMARY
- Manchester United's feisty Premier League clash against Liverpool ended in a 2-2 draw.
- Liverpool's late equalizer came from a controversial penalty call against United's Aaron Wan Bissaka.
It is hard to find a Liverpool versus Manchester United encounter that ended without controversy! Earlier today, soccer fans got to witness an epic clash between Liverpool and Manchester United. In what was a feisty encounter, both teams shared the spoils, as the match ended 2-2 thanks to Mohamed Salah’s late penalty. However, new footage regarding the late penalty call has emerged, and United fans wouldn’t be very happy about it.
Liverpool managed to score the first goal of the day with Luis Diaz’s acrobatic effort in the 23rd minute. With both teams being wasteful in front of the goal, Manchester United skipper Bruno Fernandes grabbed the equalizer in the 50th minute with a 50-yard screamer. It was also a day to remember for United youngster Kobbie Mainoo, who scored in the 67th minute and gave United the lead.
Was that a penalty ? pic.twitter.com/xhIFnWbcxt
— DieHardUnited (@diehardunited22) April 7, 2024
However, Erik ten Hag’s hopes of winning the match ended in the 84th minute after United defender Aaron Wan Bissaka appeared to trip Harvey Elliot inside the box. It was just the gift that Liverpool needed as Mohamed Salah, who rarely misses from the spot, duly converted the penalty. However, a different angle of Wan Bissaka’s foul on Elliot has come up, which shows that Wan Bissaka didn’t actually commit a foul on the Liverpool midfielder.
Obviously, the Manchester United supporters haven’t been too happy about the penalty call from referee Anthony Taylor. Shortly after the match, the social media platforms were flooded with reactions from dissatisfied fans who vented their frustration on the Internet. Several fans also criticized the Video Assistant Referee’s (VAR) inability to prevent such refereeing mistakes from being a regular occurrence.
Erik ten Hag’s season-long issues with refereeing decisions haunt him yet again
Meanwhile, Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag was once again left rueing the refereeing decisions as it cost him the victory yet again. Throughout the season, Ten Hag has often complained about the level of refereeing in the league that has adversely affected his team.
Earlier this season, Ten Hag vented about the in-game decisions from the match official during Manchester United’s dismal 3-1 defeat against Arsenal. He also complained about the referee’s decision to award as much as 14 minutes of added time against Nottingham Forest since it was the rival team who were caught wasting time.
🗣️🎙️ Erik Ten Hag on Nottingham Forest time-wasting: “The rule is not right. The team was delaying from the start and they were getting rewarded for it.With all due respect to Forest, we can’t allow them to score those goals.”#MUNNFO pic.twitter.com/8o7Z3iWKtD
— Olt Sports (@oltsport_) August 26, 2023
Against Liverpool too, Ten Hag is bound to be upset with Anthony Taylor’s decision to gift Liverpool a penalty despite no visible contact from Aaron Wan Bissaka on Harvey Elliot. The 2-2 draw will be a tough pill to swallow for the United head coach, with his side currently languishing in sixth place in the Premier League standings.
Erik ten Hag sets yet another disappointing Manchester United record against Liverpool
Despite a second-half resurgence from Manchester United against Liverpool, Erik ten Hag has to once again shoulder the blame after unfortunately setting yet another negative record. Since he arrived at the club in 2021, Ten Hag has set several club records, although he isn’t proud of most of them.
With Ten Hag in charge, Manchester United lost five of its first 10 home games for the first time since 1930-31. Moreover, United had never lost the opening two Champions League group games before Ten Hag’s tenure and had also never conceded three or more goals in back-to-back Champions League games. In addition to this, United also had the worst-ever start to their league campaign this season since 1989.
Records broken so far this season –
– Galatasaray hadn’t won a game on English soil in 117 years of existing, until Erik Ten Hag.
– Manchester United had never lost the opening 2 CL group games, until Erik Ten Hag.
– Manchester United had never conceded 7 goals in the… pic.twitter.com/PEyclk1ZYo
— Mike (@Mike_RMCF) October 3, 2023
Most recently, against Liverpool, Manchester United failed to record even a single shot on goal in the first half since October 2022, which was, ironically, also against Liverpool. To make matters worse, this was also the first time in nine years that United failed to record a single shot on goal in the first half at Old Trafford. With the season entering its business end, Ten Hag and the United management have some serious thinking to do.