For the first, they played Harry Kane onside and then watched as though mired in treacle as he darted clear. Then Joel Matip headed a free-kick right back into the danger area for Dele Alli to finish with a scuffed shot. Wayne Rooney's opening goal came from a Granit Xhaka error, while Nacho Monreal's poor back pass gifted Omar Niasse a late consolation. In three of his last five visits to Anfield, Alex Ferguson left well beaten, having tried to go toe-to-toe with a Liverpool team energised by the waves of passion from the stands. But a week of so many soft goals is a reminder that both pragmatism and the cavalier approach can only take you so far, if your players forget that defending is also part of the football brief.

Source: Economic Times October 24, 2017 18:33 UTC