Gary Neville insisted he was surprised by Manchester United’s positivity as they earned a 1-1 draw against their fierce rivals, Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp was quick to accuse Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side of playing a negative style of football after the Red Devils set up with five at the back, and while the stats show that Liverpool dominated possession and created more chances than the hosts, Manchester United showed plenty of positivity as they looked to hit the league leaders on the counter, utilising the rapid pace of Marcus Rashford and Dan James to good effect.
It was a swift break that saw United open the scoring in the 36th minute, James putting in a good cross, with Marcus Rashford attacking the box to tuck the ball past the returning Alisson.
Speaking after the game, Gary Neville said that he was ‘surprised’ by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s positive approach, though admitted Liverpool would have won the game if they had managed to score their equaliser earlier, Adam Lallana levelling the scores in the 85th minute.
“We didn’t think United would be anywhere near as positive as they were,” Neville told Sky Sports.
“I think Ole surprised us. He’s been questioned about whether he can get it right against the big managers and he did today.
“United will be happy. Ole will be happy and Liverpool will be thinking why didn’t we get the goal earlier.
“United are fragile, very fragile, and if Liverpool had scored earlier they would have gone on to win that game.”
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