Liverpool got their seventh straight win to start the Premier League season.
Gini Wijnaludm scored a fortuitous goal in the second half. The ball squeezed under United keeper Dean Henderson and rolled over the line.
Sheffield sat back and frustrated the Reds for most of the game. Holding them to just once chance in the first half when Sadio Mane hit the post.
Jurgen Klopp brought on Divok Origi for Jordan Henderson and with four attackers on the field, they finally found the breakthrough.
Read Liverpool’s Tristan Fitzpatrick and Ste Hoare broke down all the action from after the whistle.
Sadio Mane had the only chance of the first half with Roberto Firmino setting up 8 yards out, but should Firmino have taken the shot himself?
Tristan: No, I don’t think so. Mane pulls his shot and even then he still hits the post. It was a ten out of ten chance that you want to fashion.
Ste: I think he did the right thing playing the pass. He put it on a plate for Mane to score, it was just a really bad miss from Sadio.
There was a shout for a penalty in the second half as Mane was caught, was it a penalty?
Ste: I thought it was in real time and the replay didn’t change my mind. Nobody on the field even appealed though, so maybe they know more than me!
Tristan: At first glance, I didn’t think so, but after watching it’s definitely a penalty. Is it clear and obvious? No, so I’m not surprised VAR didn’t get involved.
Klopp went to four attackers in the second half bringing on Divok Origi did you like the move at the time?
Ste:
Tristan: I didn’t love it, but I appreciate that he had to change something. Origi was really good coming on. My only hesitation was that it was Jordan Henderson coming off, not Gini Wijanldum, who up until that point was basically a non-factor. How wrong I was!
Speaking of Origi, what did you think of his play coming back from injury?
Tristan: Really liked his game. He’s direct and big, fullbacks and centrebacks hate playing against him. Salah and Mane get their shins kicked in and defenders play them physically, can’t do that with Origi.
Ste: I thought he did really well. He’s a big, physical player and he was able to get stuck into Sheffield United, which helped us a lot.
Three straight games now without goals from either Sadio Mane or Mo Salah, concerned about their form?
Ste: Mane, not so much. He had two clear chances that, on most days, he’ll score. Salah is a slight concern as he’s been a bit off the pace in recent away games.
Tristan: Midly, but not too much. I do wonder how long Klopp will persist with this 4-3-3 if they continue to slump. I think it was about this time last year we moved to 4-2-3-1 with Xherdan Shaqiri playing a bigger role.
Needed a mistake from their keeper, did the Reds steal three points?
Tristan: Yes, I think that’s the first time this year. I didn’t see us breaking through that Sheffield defence. We just weren’t that good. These are the games you need to win if you want the title.
Ste: I think, on balance, United will feel hard done by and they probably did deserve a point. However, because we defended our goal well, albeit a bit last gasp at times, we put ourselves in a position to be able to win the game with just one error. Steal is probably too harsh a word but we got the run of the green, for sure.
