Manchester United produced an outstanding display to defeat Liverpool and give manager Erik ten Hag his first Premier League victory at a thunderous Old Trafford.

Jadon Sancho showed superb control and composure to deservedly put United in front after 16 minutes before Marcus Rashford raced clear to beat Alisson from substitute Anthony Martial’s pass eight minutes after the interval.

Mo Salah set up a tense finish when he scrambled in a header with nine minutes left but United survived to give Ten Hag just the sort of triumph he needs to make his mark at Old Trafford.

Man Utd rise to the occasion

Manchester United were at their lowest ebb after a 4-0 humiliation at Brentford followed an opening day home defeat by Brighton.

And while thousands protested against the ownership of the Glazers before kick-off and the chants continued throughout the game, United’s fans rallied behind a performance of fierce intensity and commitment that left Liverpool bullied for long periods.

New £60m signing Casemiro was paraded in front of the Stretford End before kick-off and how he must have relished the magnificent atmosphere inside Old Trafford as United turned the misery of their abject first two league performances on its head.

Liverpool won 5-0 here last season and 4-0 at Anfield but United mustered more energy and aggression in the first 10 minutes here than in both of those embarrassing performances.

Ten Hag employed pace to take advantage of Liverpool’s high defensive line and they should have been ahead even before Sancho opened the scoring, Anthony Elanga hitting the post after racing clear.

United contested every challenge with a fired up Lisandro Martinez setting the tone early on with a robust challenge on Mohamed Salah.

Rashford’s form has been indifferent in recent times but his confidence will surely soar after the composed manner in which he scored what eventually proved to be the winner.

And this was a landmark night for Ten Hag, who knew his decision to leave out Maguire and Ronaldo would have brought scrutiny had United lost.

Instead, he enjoyed the sort of night that he will hope gets his Old Trafford reign up and running.

Mediocre Liverpool fall short

Liverpool’s disappointing start to the season continued as they found themselves over-run from the kick-off by an inspired Manchester United.

Jurgen Klopp’s side have injury problems and Darwin Nunez’s moment of madness that resulted in a red card against Crystal Palace deprived Liverpool of the height in attack that might have exploited Martinez’s lack of stature but they got exactly what they deserved here – nothing.

Klopp’s decision to omit Fabinho was mystifying, even more so when James Milner and Jordan Henderson were left off the pace as United rattled into challenges and contested every ball with a fierce competitive edge.

Liverpool were also vulnerable at the back, with Virgil van Dijk’s poor start to the season continuing, especially with a passive piece of defending for Sancho’s goal.

Klopp will not be panicking and Liverpool have too much quality to struggle for long but two points from their first three league games is a bitterly disappointing return and it is hard to make a case that they deserved anything more.

Player of the match

MartínezLisandro Martínez

with an average of 8.15

Manchester United

1. Squad number6Player nameMartínez

   Average rating

   8.15

2. Squad number12Player nameMalacia

   Average rating

   8.14

3. Squad number10Player nameRashford

   Average rating

   7.74

4. Squad number25Player nameSancho

   Average rating

   7.66

5. Squad number19Player nameVarane

   Average rating

   7.62

6. Squad number14Player nameEriksen

   Average rating

   7.11

7. Squad number9Player nameMartial

   Average rating

   7.09

8. Squad number20Player nameDiogo Dalot

   Average rating

   7.05

9. Squad number1Player namede Gea

   Average rating

   7.05

10. Squad number8Player nameBruno Fernandes

    Average rating

    6.88

11. Squad number36Player nameElanga

    Average rating

    6.86

12. Squad number39Player nameMcTominay

    Average rating

    6.61

13. Squad number34Player namevan de Beek

    Average rating

    6.05

14. Squad number17Player nameFred

    Average rating

    5.91

15. Squad number29Player nameWan-Bissaka

    Average rating

    5.71

16. Squad number7Player nameCristiano Ronaldo

    Average rating

    5.44

Liverpool

1. Squad number11Player nameMohamed Salah

   Average rating

   5.09

2. Squad number19Player nameElliott

   Average rating

   4.89

3. Squad number1Player nameAlisson

   Average rating

   4.88

4. Squad number23Player nameDíaz

   Average rating

   4.86

5. Squad number28Player nameFábio Carvalho

   Average rating

   4.74

6. Squad number26Player nameRobertson

   Average rating

   4.53

7. Squad number3Player nameFabinho

   Average rating

   4.45

8. Squad number14Player nameHenderson

   Average rating

   4.12

9. Squad number7Player nameMilner

   Average rating

   4.02

10. Squad number2Player nameGomez

    Average rating

    4.01

11. Squad number9Player nameRoberto Firmino

    Average rating

    4.00

12. Squad number21Player nameTsimikas

    Average rating

    3.96

13. Squad number4Player namevan Dijk

    Average rating

    3.90

14. Squad number66Player nameAlexander-Arnold

    Average rating

    3.72

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Sourced From BBC