LONDON – Manchester United supporters are dreaming of a first English Premier League title in a decade after Marcus Rashford earned a dramatic win over rivals Manchester City, while Liverpool lost at Brighton & Hove Albion in their disappointing season.
At the other end of the table, bottom side Southampton won 2-1 at Everton, whose season goes from bad to worse, while Wolverhampton Wanderers and Nottingham Forest earned valuable victories in their bids to avoid relegation.
A first league title since 2012-13 is now a real possibility for United after they moved one point behind City to second in the standings.
Liverpool now trail leaders Arsenal by 16 points having played one game more. The Reds lost back-to-back league games for a second time this season; suffering six defeats overall, three times as many as in the whole of 2021-22.
Overrun in midfield and shaky in defence, Liverpool managed two shots on target over the 90 minutes, with Brighton more than good value for their victory, given to them by March’s brace and Danny Welbeck’s superb late third.
“Bad. Really bad. I can’t remember a worse game,” Liverpool’s coach Jurgen Klopp told the BBC. “How can you explain that? The same players played outstanding football matches before but if things aren’t properly organised then it can look like that.
“Massively frustrated. We gave the ball away, the spaces were too big and we couldn’t push up. That is obviously not good, especially against a super well-drilled side like Brighton. They got more confident and we did the opposite.”
Klopp said he had tried to switch Liverpool’s tactics in a bid to halt their poor run, but conceded the players did not handle the changes well.
“I had an idea to change the formation which was to try help the team. That was the idea. But we never did it properly,” he added according to AFP.
“We need to be creative with the options we have. What I saw from my team was that they were not really convinced by it. That’s it.”
England forward Rashford completed the turnaround eight minutes from time to score for the seventh successive match in all competitions, the first United player to do so since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2008.
The hosts had looked beaten after Jack Grealish headed City in front just after the hour mark, with the champions looking in control until Bruno Fernandes levelled in the 78th minute.
City was furious the goal was awarded after a VAR review, with Rashford initially flagged offside before letting Fernandes take the shot ahead of him.
A ninth successive win in all competitions for United was celebrated with real vigour, as the hosts continued their improvement, one that is yielding better than expected results so soon into coach Erik ten Hag’s tenure.
“We look like a team now,” Fernandes said according to Reuters. “Some time ago sometimes each one of us was looking for ourselves. Now you see a proper team playing for each other.
“If you don’t keep winning they (City) will go further clear. We’ll celebrate a big win but from tomorrow our focus has to be on the next game.”
