Manchester United beat Liverpool 2-1 on Sunday afternoon in a closely contested Premier League clash, which saw the Red Devils leave Anfield with three points. Bryan Mbuemo opened the scoring for the Red Devils in the opening exchanges, with Cody Gakpo equalising for the hosts after 78 minutes to leave both sides searching for a decisive goal.
With six minutes of regular time left on the clock, Man Utd man Harry Maguire dispatched a deft header from a looping cross by Bruno Fernandes to send the travelling Red Devils supporters behind the goal into raptures.
The clash between the two historic rivals was ‘Super Sunday’ by name and nature, with quality and controversy throughout. Following United’s first win at Anfield in almost a decade, and the fourth successive defeat for Liverpool under Arne Slot this season, Gary Lineker shared a worrying opinion relating to the Reds.
Mo Salah ‘Won’t Like’ What Arne Slot Did vs Man Utd
Lineker believes that Mohamed Salah will have been frustrated to have been withdrawn by Slot while Man Utd were leading the clash with only minutes to go.
The Egyptian winger was brought off for full-back Jeremie Frimpong with minutes of regular time spare, but despite Salah’s surprising substitution, it almost worked to immediate effect when the Dutchman delivered a cross which Gakpo spurned with a header.
The former Barcelona striker and Match of the Day host thinks that Reds boss Slot made ‘a statement’ by withdrawing one of his marquee attacking talents when chasing to rescue a point. Lineker told the Rest is Football Podcast: “It was interesting, almost a statement from Arne Slot, that he brought Mo Salah off.
“Trailing 2-1 when you need a goal. We know what Mo’s like, he can pop up. I know he missed a chance, and he was very quiet in the game, but it was an interesting decision.
“It nearly paid off immediately because Frimpong went down, crossed the ball and Gakpo should have scored. But I just thought, ‘Hmm… Mo won’t like that’, you know Mo.”
Salah failed to capitalise on goalscoring opportunities throughout the clash, but did in fact create the most chances (four) of any player to feature, meaning that the blame does not solely fall on the 33-year-old for the failure to clinch anything at Anfield.
Slot’s substitution decision means that Salah is still searching for his first Premier League goal in over a month, with his last coming against Burnley in mid-September, and the Egyptian winger will be desperate to get back to his best goalscoring form if he retains his place in Wednesday’s trip to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League.