Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his 14th Premier League goal to salvage a point for Manchester United as they held Liverpool to a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford on Monday morning (NZ time).
It was a frustrating night for the hosts, who arguably dominated proceedings but were let down by a lack of polish as they were unable to punish Liverpool despite having several very good chances.
In the vicious derby, it was United who cracked first with star man Paul Pogba meeting a James Milner cross with a raised arm, forcing the referee to point to the spot. And it was Milner who put the visitors one-up with a calmly taken penalty past the outstretched left arm of goalkeeper David de Gea.
Despite falling one behind, United wouldn't have been too panicked about the deficit heading into the sheds at half-time and they came out a more improved and hungrier outfit in the second stanza.
Liverpool took a back seat after the break with United almost exclusively owning the share of possession, territory and scoring opportunities. It was Henrikh Mkhitaryan who set up United's best chance of the second half, taking a wide ball from Ibrahimovic and pulling it back for Anthony Martial who just failed to meet it.
The pressure on the visitors eventually tolled when a neat cross was met by substitute Marouane Fellaini which then hit the post before Antonio Valencia tucked it in to Ibrahimovic who made no mistake.
The point sees Liverpool stay behind Tottenham in third spot, while Manchester United missed the opportunity to draw level with Manchester City, who were blown away at Goodison Park earlier in the day.
Newshub.
