Premier League: Two horses in race for title as Arsenal, Man City both win
Arsenal survived a late comeback from Tottenham to win 3-2 away to its neighbour after it had stormed into a 3-0 first-half lead.
The much anticipated Premier League encounter between Manchester United and Liverpool ended in a draw. However, Manchester United would be happy with the fact that they squeezed a point out of the match since Liverpool were favourites to win the match. Post the match, Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admitted that he used Liverpool’s own tactics against them to restrict them to a draw and end their the winning run in the league.
Manchester United were leading at the end of the first half, courtesy a 36th-minute goal from Marcus Rashford. Five minutes later, Sadio Mane appeared to have scored for Liverpool but the goal was disallowed by Video Assistant Referee (VAR) as Mane handled the ball before the strike.
Liverpool then had to wait the 85th minute before the equaliser came in from Adam Lallana. Later, while speaking on the BBC programme “Match of the Day 2”, former Manchester United midfielder Daren Fletcher observed how Manchester United were playing the ball behind Liverpool on the flanks to get at their opponent.
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer later admitted that it was, in fact, a ploy that they used deliberately. He stated that he had watched Liverpool use a similar tactic when they had taken a lead early against Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League final.
“People are obsessed with passing the ball but just spinning them down the sides and turning them. It creates a tempo in the stadium and the opposition don’t like it,” Fletcher said.
“We always used to play like that early on, get the ball forward and turn teams and it gives you a foothold in the game to play football,” he added.
To which Solskjaer replied,“Liverpool won the Champions League final with a hook in behind in the first 40 seconds.”
“You have to be unpredictable and I think we have been like that today,” he concluded.
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