Man United rescue late point against Liverpool

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored late-on to snatch 1-1 draw against a stubborn Liverpool side in the Premier League at Old Trafford.

Liverpool opened the scoring in the 26^th minute after James Milner dispatched his spot-kick, following Paul Pogba’s hand-ball inside the area, in what was a poor showing from the Frenchman who struggled to impose himself on the game.

United pressed throughout and were met by a stubborn Liverpool, but finally hit-back late on when substitution Marouane Fellaini's header came back off the post, before Antonio Valencia found Zlatan Ibrahimovic at the near-post.

This is the first time in 25 years that the two sides drew both league games, and despite conceding the late equaliser, Liverpool will be the happier of the two after holding out for long periods, and are now seven points off the leaders Chelsea.

The draw all but kills United’s already slim title hopes, but Jose Mourinho and his side know there is plenty of work left to do to finish in the Champion's League positions, and now sit four points off fourth-placed Arsenal.

Pogba’s first-half nightmare continued, and he had a chance to rectify his hand-ball when Henrikh Mkhitaryan picked the Frenchman out with a sublime through-ball, but the former Juventus player dragged his shot wide.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic - and the United front-six -were kept quiet by a sturdy Liverpool defence in the first-half, with the Swede’s only opportunity arriving in the 32^nd minute after his free-kick was well-met by the returning Simon Mignolet.

Mkhitaryan has been a revelation since his return to United’s starting eleven, and despite an under-whelming opening 45, the 27-year-old found himself in a one-on-one situation, but hit his lacklustre effort straight at Mignolet.

Liverpool did well to withhold Jose Mourinho’s side, but their resolute defence was put to the test just after the break, when Mkhitaryan’s pacey ball towards the near-post went begging as the under-par Martial failed to get contact.

As the Red Devils started to pile on the pressure, Klopp turned to Phillipe Coutinho from the bench to exploit the gaping United defence, and it took the Brazilian maestro less than a minute to influence the game, when he found compatriot Roberto Firmino, whose shot was well dealt with by David De Gea.

Liverpool, and Klopp will be bitterly disappointed to have conceded late-on, and will look to go one better when they host struggling Swansea City on the 21^st of January.

While, United will look to get back to winning ways when they travel to Mark Hughes’ Stoke City on the same date.

Source: ISNTV

Image/GettyImages/MikeHewitt

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