July 12, (THEWILL) – In a preseason friendly in Bangkok, Manchester United defeated bitter rivals, Liverpool, 4-0, giving Erik ten Hag the finest possible start to his managerial career at Old Trafford.
United took advantage of three terrible defensive mistakes to take an improbable three-goal lead into halftime. Jadon Sancho capitalised on a poor clearing and fired into the bottom corner for 1-0 after Luis Diaz had previously forced an outstanding save from David de Gea with a twisting effort on the other end.
Six minutes later, the Reds could not believe they had not equalised when Luke Chambers had a shot blocked and Luis Diaz and Fabio Carvalho, who were just a few seconds apart, both struck the woodwork. Man Utd went up three after two more errors from Liverpool in quick succession. First, Fred looped over a stranded Alisson after Joe Gomez failed to clear and Anthony Martial sprinted through to again dink Alisson after Rhys Williams nearly gave the ball away with his first touch.
A raft of Liverpool substitutions started to change the game, but Diogo Dalot still had time to hit the woodwork. In the second half, there was a flurry of substitutions from both teams, with Reds’ Darwin Nunez and Red Devils’ Tyrell Malacia marking their debuts. The former had an opportunity, but Tom Heaton, the replacement goalkeeper, expertly stopped his angle shot.
Eric Bailly had a key role in United’s fourth goal, assisting Facundo Pellistri to eventually wrap up the scoring. Mohamed Salah, a late substitute, was the third player for the Reds to strike the post with a shot before Nunez tipped the rebound over late in the game. United, therefore, lifted the 2022 Bangkok Century Cup for the first trophy of ten Hag’s reign.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
