After beating Liverpool at Old Trafford, Christian Eriksen thinks Manchester United proved they have what it takes to compete against the best in the Premier League.
The 2-1 victory on Monday at Old Trafford will mean little if United loses to Southampton on Saturday, but following losses to Brentford and Brighton and Hove Albion, the Red Devils produced a strong showing to demolish their formidable opponents and boost morale.
Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford’s goals gave United three points, Erik ten Hag’s first league victory as United manager, but Harry Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo were benched.
United had only 29.6 per cent of possession and their passing accuracy was a fairly dismal 65.93 per cent.
That was the worst accuracy United have had in any Premier League game since posting 65.73 per cent in a 3-1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield in December 2018.
Yet they were still the better side for large parts of the game, with their energy and enthusiasm so markedly different from the game prior, the 4-0 thumping at Brentford.
Assessing the difference between the Brentford and Liverpool games, Eriksen hit on the big change against the Reds, saying: “I think our intensity compared to the Brentford game [was the biggest difference].
“Obviously, we made a few mistakes against them that gave them the advantage and [against Liverpool] we started on the front foot and were the better team in the first half.”
1 – Erik ten Hag is the first Manchester United manager to secure his first ever competitive win with the club in a match against Liverpool. Arrived. pic.twitter.com/mvtOYYvmzL
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 22, 2022
Captain Maguire would have been frustrated to be relegated to the bench, but the England defender reacted on Tuesday morning by posting a picture on Instagram of Rashford and Bruno Fernandes celebrating, adding the caption: “Things you love to see.”
United’s running caught the eye, as they covered 113 kilometres as a group, with Liverpool clocking up just under 110km.
Rashford ended a run of 997 minutes without a goal in all competitions for United and almost added another, thrashing a fierce shot just over the crossbar.
Eriksen said that for United it was a case of getting “back to basics”.
“We have some very quick players and how we played today, and how Liverpool play, suited us as well,” the Denmark midfielder said. “It’s great to play with players who want to play football and run.”
Eriksen believes the jolt of the Brighton and Brentford defeats has set United up for the rest of the season, but time will tell on that score. Two wretched performances followed by a big improvement for one game leaves them with some convincing still to do.
Former Tottenham and Inter playmaker Eriksen senses growing unity, however. Quoted on United’s official website, he said: “I think it started after losing two games.
“This has been about coming together and getting back to the basics. We needed to show that we were better doing the basics and I think we did that.”
Source:livescore.com