One of the maximum eagerly-awaited clashes of the choicest League season became a prime letdown as Liverpool and Manchester United nullified every different in a largely undistinguished goalless draw at Anfield on Monday.
After all the hype preceding the conflict between English soccer’s fiercest competitors, United’s supervisor Jose Mourinho changed into left happier than his counterpart Juergen Klopp because the visitors doused Liverpool’s acclaimed attacking pyrotechnics.
the house side, complete of dreams all season, proved desperately disappointing till finding some 2d-half of drive and may have nonetheless felt they deserved the win as United goalkeeper David de Gea had to make great saves from Emre Can and Philippe Coutinho.
Mourinho, the master of stifling Anfield dreams whilst at Chelsea, again located his tactical mastery rewarded but United, seventh in the desk on 14 points, have nonetheless gained simply one among their ultimate five league games at the same time as Liverpool live fourth on 17,  at the back of leaders Manchester metropolis and Arsenal.
The Portuguese sounded mainly satisfied as he counseled United’s potential to hold a clean sheet towards their hosts had shown “they (Liverpool) are not the remaining wonder of the sector like you want to say they are”.
Klopp, even though, talked of “mixed emotions”, admitting it had been a poor spectacle.
“i'm not frustrated however i am not happy with the overall performance. no person will display this game in 10 or twenty years but we may want to have performed better.
“We get a point. It doesn’t feel like the best thing however it is what we got.”
His normally whirlwind Liverpool have been effectively subdued inside the first half as Mourinho reverted to conservative kind, bringing in Marouane Fellaini to companion Ander Herrera in a stifling central midfield aggregate.
Throwing guys behind the ball and taking the voice out of the passionate domestic crowd, United controlled maximum of the play within the opening half of-hour although a forty-metre Zlatan Ibrahimovic loose kick blasted into row Z was their lowest of highlights.
Liverpool, without the injured Georginio Wijnaldum and pressured to depart Adam Lallana at the bench, by no means got going, with Daniel Sturridge proving disappointing, and they appeared worried in the front in their fevered fans.
It took them greater than half of an hour before a Roberto Firmino header straight at De Gea represented their first attempt on intention.
It turned into most effective after the spoil that they commenced to show glimpses of their actual colours, Can wriggling through to pressure a fine one-surpassed store from De Gea at complete stretch before the Spanish keeper delivered a fair finer stop, flying through the air to tip Coutinho’s curler huge.
A amazing closing-gasp assignment by way of Antonio Valencia deprived Firmino however United, for all their solidity, had only one effort on target and appeared returned ruefully on their first-class risk, a tame header across goal from Ibrahimovic after a exquisite delivery from Paul Pogba.