Europa League: Manchester United 1-1 Liverpool

Manchester United played hosts to arch rivals, Liverpool in the Europa League Round of 16 tie. Having brought in a 2-0 advantage to Old Trafford, Liverpool were looking to finish the job they'd started at Anfield. However, Machester United had other plans where a good passage of play for the Red Devils, ended with Nathaniel Clyne tripping Anthony Martial in the penalty box. The referee immediately pointed to the spot and Anthony Martial slotted the ball into the back of the net as Mignolet guessed wrong.The game came back to life right after and saw Manchester United press for the tie equalizer. However, Philippe Coutinho thought otherwise, deciding to run past a baffled Guillermo Varela with the ball at his feet while he lobbed over an onrushing David De Gea. The Spaniard getting lobbed for a goal has been unheard of but here was O Magico doing it and making it look downright easy.The match eventually ended 1-1 with Manchester United getting knocked out by Liverpool after an intense 180+ minutes of football owing to their victory at Anfield. Let us look at five of the biggest talking points of the game.

#1 The Penalty

Martial Clyne — Anthony Martial is fouled by Nathaniel Clyne.

The game was quietly on the lookout for a chance to light itself up. After a sluggish start to the game, one could see as clear as the light of day that Manchester United were looking to tighten the screws. It worked for a considerable amount of time and when Nathaniel Clyne, who had a very poor night out at Old Trafford, tripped Anthony Martial in the penalty box, Old Trafford erupted with the hope that the penalty would form the turning point for the match eventually.

Anthony Martial slotted the penalty away as coolly as anyone can on the occasion of such a game. The penalty itself did not seem to be contentious, with clear contact made even though it was on the lesser side. What ensued after the Penalty was a furious run of play where Manchester United threatened to wipe out Liverpool’s lead from the first leg completely.

Liverpool looked completely under the scanner as Manchester United repeatedly asked questions of the Liverpool defense. However, the momentum gathered by the opening goal was soon completely wiped away.

#2 Philippe Coutinhos moments of magic

Philippe Coutinho has spent much of this season threatening to turn into an enigmatic figure at Anfield. Coutinho is definitely one of those players that can decide a game on his own with moments of exquisite skill that send audiences to the edge of their seat. However, when the season began for him under Brendan Rodgers, he went through a patch that saw the ordinary side to Coutinho’s game. Tonight, however, Old Trafford was witness to the brilliant side again.

‘O Magico’ as they call the little magician fondly, was the one who decided to end the tie on his own, handing Liverpool the coveted away goal that effectively raised Manchester United’s task to the realm of the improbable. The goal itself was incredible. Having received the ball on the left hand side not too further up the pitch in the Manchester United half, Coutinho used his low center of gravity to completely wrong foot Guillermo Varela before rounding him to drive at the keeper.

With De Gea rushing in to close the space down completely for Coutinho, the magician pulled off another trick, sending the ball floating over a completely baffled De Gea and right into the net. The look on the Spaniard’s face after that told you an entire story on its own.

Coutinho also had other moments, the most special of which was when he managed to get the ball off Marouane Fellaini as Manchester United tried to break forward. The Brazilian went on to dribble past three defenders in a row before choosing to pass rather than dribble past the fourth. This move from him left half of Old Trafford mesmerised.

#3 Marouane Fellaini is walking a tightrope

Marouane Fellaini has always been the hard man most teams would crave in the old Division One. However, he is exactly the sort of player, the Premier League normally punishes for their style of addressing the game. Fellaini received much flak from the first tie when he was caught on camera having intentionally elbowed a Liverpool player. Fellaini escaped a retrospective ban because the incident was not reported by the referee in his final match note.

Having luckily missed the ban, you’d have hardly expected Fellaini to keep doing it throughout the game. Fellaini, indeed was lucky, to have finished the game with a yellow as he yer again arguably delivered deliberate elbows not just Roberto Firmino but also Dejan Lovren. While the acts committed don’t have a place in the modern game, UEFA completely and continuously ignoring the shortcomings of Fellaini in a match is baffling. It will certainly be funny if both incidents are overlooked in the months to come.

#4 Liverpool midfield needs sorting

This was a game that was played at great tempo right from the very beginning. While both teams had their patches of good play, it became obvious that their midfield need some work on them in the summer. With Manchester United, the issue lies elsewhere with their best players aged and in need of phasing out. With Liverpool, however, the matter is more concerning.

Jordan Henderson seems to be a shadow of the player he can be and has been in the past few seasons. Since his return from injury, Henderson has shown promise in patches but has not been able to hit his regular highs as consistently. One could place the onus on his recurring injury where there seems to be a suggestion that he continues to play through pain. However, this needs a solution considering how much it has affected his game.

Emre Can, on the other hand, needs to find consistency. He may still be relatively young, but he needs to sort it out quick. The German international went missing in the first half overawed by the situation and was one of the reasons Liverpool had their midfield over run in patches. Liverpool need to sort the position as well as the personnel in the summer.

#5 Louis van Gaals season capitulates

Manchester United seems to continue on a downward spiral with their season getting slowly and steadily picked apart. It is a matter of great concern that United have been tamely knocked out of Europe and are looking likely to finish outside of the Champions League places this time. This makes the FA cup their only hope of any silverware this season.

However, Louis Van Gaal has more deep-rooted concerns to deal with. Manchester United to everyone, seem to be a team on the decline and it has been whispered amongst the faithful that the Dutchman is not the man to lead them in the immediate future. It was evident that he is a man under some pressure, considering the forlorn look he had on him through the entire match and even more so once Coutinho’s goal went in. With the defeat in the Europa League coming at the hands of the old enemy Liverpool, one can see that Van Gaal’s season has well and truly capitulated.