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| Lord Harry Maguire of Slabhead |
When Cody Gakpo equalised for Liverpool 12 minutes from time you feared the worst.
For those of us watching at home, and for the 3,000 or so in the away end at Anfield, you could sense what was coming: United would s**t themselves in the face of a full blown onslaught from the wounded but hungry champions. It was an achingly familiar and unpleasant feeling from deep inside. United, as we have done so often, were going to snatch defeat when victory was within reach.
Clutch Maguire comes up trumps
Except, this time, it was different: United had their own battering ram in the familiar form of Harry Maguire's forehead. The man for the big occasion who has come in clutch so often rose again to head himself into Old Trafford folklore and end United's near decade-long wait for a win on enemy territory. An entire generation of United-supporting kids have never seen this before.
Maguire's last six goals have all come in late and dramatic fashion: equaliser vs FC Porto (91 minutes), 93rd-minute winner against Leicester, the winner over Ipswich, THAT extra-time header vs Lyon, 89th-minute at Grimsby to level and now his 84th-minute intervention here. Surely this man deserves a statue...
Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata, Robin van Persie, Carlos Tevez, John O'Shea, Ryan Giggs and Diego Forlan. The list of United players to score winners here over the past few decades is not extensive but you can now add Maguire to it.
Reward and vindication for Amorim
This was United's finest result and performance of the Ruben Amorim era - and what better place to finally pick up the long-awaited second successive Premier League victory. For the first time in a long while, Amorim, the players, us fans and the club as a collective can puff out our chests with pride.
Amorim's team selection raised eyebrows before kick off. Benjamin Sesko was back on the bench despite two goals in as many games and Leny Yoro, consistently impressive this season, was dropped. Amorim reverted to the same back three as the Brentford debacle and also included the weary Casemiro who played back-to-back 90 minutes for the Selecao, on the other side of the world.
Yet for a man who has had so much criticism both on these pages and elsewhere (not all of it justified, in fairness), it was difficult to find fault here. He came with a game plan to pin Liverpool back and bypass their press and was rewarded with a superb display of contain and counter-attack. The public backing of his boss, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, may have allowed him a manager who has looked at odds with himself at times this season to breathe a little easier.
Whether Amorin does, indeed, last the three years Ratcliffe wants, or only another three months, both men will always have this to remember fondly.
The first United manager to win here since 2016, succeeding where Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag failed.
Granted, the Reds, clad in all white, rode their luck at times. Cody Gakpo struck both posts and the bar, whilst Senne Lammens saved superbly from Alexander Isak. You expect that at Anfield - Liverpool may look poor right now but they are the still the champions and this was Anfield. Sometimes you need a bit of fortune and we got it here.
But United could, indeed probably should, have been a couple of goals ahead by the break when Bruno Fernandes fired wide from a good position.
But this was no smash and grab. We were well worth our win and responded superbly when Arne Slot's needs-must substitution changed the game and eventually brought the leveller. United kept their heads and Maguire used his at the crucial moment.
It is testament to Maguire's resilience and ability he is still a United player. Lesser beings would have thrown in the towel after losing the captaincy then seeing multiple attempts to sell him. Bullied by trolls and a much malinged figure of fun, But he never lets his head drop, always does his best and - in an age where nearly every metric of a player's game can be measured - Maguire has something that is simply priceless: character. May your apologies be louder than your disrespect.
Amad, Mbeumo and Cunha lead the charge
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| Bryan Mbeumo |
United were spearheaded superbly by the magic of Bryan Mbeumo and the fleet-footed finesse of the in form Amad. The two dovetailed perfectly against Sunderland and Amorim deserves credit for keeping faith with the duo when perhaps the more defensive-minded Noussair Mazraoui would have made more sense. Mbeumo struck the quickest ever goal in this fixture and has looked the part since his summer signing from Brentford.
As for Matheus Cunha: this lad was born to play for us. He may be yet to notch his first goal for United, but his multitude of assets was vital. He covered every blade of grass, knitted everything together, the ball stuck to him like glue, had the most touches of any United player, and he was a constant thorn in Liverpool's side. His ball carrying and physicality is elite and he celebrated the award of a late free-kick like a winning goal. What a player.
Despite his, and our, critics, there are signs the tide is turning for Amorim's United. Into the top half and only three points off both our vanquished rivals and fourth place. Of course, we have to back this up now with a win against a Brighton side victorious on their last three trips to Old Trafford. But - the Grimsby and Brentford aberrations aside, we've not been nearly as bad as has been made out.
And so United have thrown down the gauntlet and passed the ultimate test. This team and the manager have proved they can do it, we are capable and have in it us to pull off a result like this one. The challenge now is to do so on a regular basis.