Manchester United 3-2 Liverpool: United complete derby day double | OneFootball

Manchester United, eventaully, picked up a dramatic 3-2 win over Liverpool at Old Trafford this afternoon. Securing their spot in the Champions League for next season.

Matheus Cunha opened the scoring after just six minutes, before Benjamin Sesko doubled United’s advantage shortly after. However, a rampant start to the second-half from Liverpool saw them get the game back level thanks to goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo.

The winning goal came in the 77th minute, when Kobbie Mainoo’s volley found the bottom corner in front of the Stretford End, his first Premier League goal since May 2024.

As It Happened

Manchester United started well, but Bruno Fernandes’ cross couldn’t find Sesko’s head. It didn’t take long for them to find the opener, however, with Cunha’s volley picking out the bottom corner on the second attempt, giving his side the lead after just six minutes. Gakpo looked to level for Liverpool straight away, but he didn’t get the desired contact on his header.

Sesko doubled the hosts’ lead in the 13th minute, throwing his body at the ball to bundle it home after a save from Freddie Woodman. A dubious VAR check for a potential handball followed, but the goal rightfully stood. Gakpo came close again 10 minutes later, he shifted the ball onto his right foot on the edge of the area before firing narrowly wide.

Casemiro was perhaps lucky to avoid a yellow card shortly before the half-hour mark, when he brought down Curtis Jones with a late sliding tackle in the middle of the park. Fernandes nearly made it three for the Red Devils just moments later, but his half-volley flew wide.

United applied further pressure for the remainder of the half, but they couldn’t find the net, meaning they went in at the break two goals to the good. Michael Carrick made one change at half-time, with Sesko replaced by Amad Diallo.

Szoboszlai got Liverpool back into the contest almost instantly in the second half, driving through the defence before calmly slotting the ball through a defender’s legs and into the bottom corner. Luke Shaw was shown the first yellow of the match minutes later, following a foul on Jeremie Frimpong.

Bryan Mbuemo was denied by the woodwork in the 53rd minute, following a rapid attack from the home side. Instead, it was Liverpool who drew level through Gakpo after they capitalised on a mistake from Senne Lammens. Andy Robertson was withdrawn following the goal and replaced by Milos Kerkez.

Kerkez was straight into the action, putting in a fantastic sliding tackle to halt Mbuemo on the edge of the area. Lammens somewhat recovered from his earlier mistake in the 67th minute, when he made a close-range reaction stop to prevent the visitors from taking the lead. The end-to-end nature of this game continued when Fernandes’ free-kick found Casemiro, but the Brazilian’s header was straight into the arms of Woodman.

Both managers made changes with 15 minutes of regular time remaining, with Patrick Dorgu replacing Mbeumo and Frimpong making way for Rio Ngumoha, who now becomes the youngest player to have represented Liverpool in this fixture’s history. It was Carrick’s side who took the lead once again shortly after, when Mainoo’s volley rolled into the bottom corner in front of the Stretford End.

Fernandes was added to the referee’s notebook in the latter stages of the game for a fierce foul on Szoboszlai. Ngumoha came close to restoring parity at the other end of the pitch, cutting onto his right foot before flashing the ball wide. Gakpo also fired goalwards in the final 10 minutes, but his effort was easily dealt with by Lammens.

Gakpo was shown a yellow card in the 85th minute for a foul on Casemiro, before Joshua Zirkzee was introduced to proceedings, replacing Cunha. Arne Slot’s final roll of the dice saw Federico Chiesa replace Ibrahima Konaté for the five minutes of injury time; however, it was not enough to rescue a derby day point.