Manchester United walked out to face Liverpool amid a mood of insurrection and undisguised pessimism – then walked off to noisy acclaim as the Erik ten Hag era was ignited on a memorable night of sound and fury at Old Trafford.
United’s supporters marched in their thousands in protest against the ownership of the Glazers before kick-off and even the pre-match parading of new £60m signing Casemiro was accompanied by the soundtrack of open discontent aimed at the Americans. There was, however, unity behind an outstanding United performance that made a nonsense of the embarrassment of the home defeat by Brighton and 4-0 humiliation at Brentford in Ten Hag’s first two Premier League games.
He ordered his players to take their anger out on Liverpool and, from the first whistle, this was as good as Old Trafford has felt for some time as the manager got exactly what he wanted for his first victory.
How United’s fans loved every second of it after the misery of recent times under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick, two large portions of it inflicted by Jurgen Klopp’s side.
