That. Was. FOOTBALL! And not just from a United perspective. When watching a football match especially between two greats, that's exactly what you want to see.
Yet it definitely wasn't what most predicted. Many (including myself) thought that this would be a walk in the park for Liverpool and perhaps they did too given how flat they were compared to their usual high standards.
But this is what happens when United actually show up. It's something we've been saying for many years that whilst these players may not be the quality needed to play for United, they do have some quality to a point where they can actually put in good performances even at the most hostile of grounds.
Several people questioned Ruben Amorim's tactics and formation in recent weeks given the poor performances and results from United and suggested that he should change it to something a lot better suited to his players.
However, the MUFC boss remained defiant and stuck to his guns and continued to play as he wanted. It may have been a bit more defensive than in previous matches but it still wasn't a 'Mourinho masterclass' and completely shut down the opposition and offer nothing in attack.
United throughout the game frustrated Liverpool to a handful of good chances while creating good opportunities of their own.
The performance in the first half was very similar to that of the Arsenal game in which the away side kept the ball pretty well and frustrated Liverpool with it. United had a decent 45% possession and limited LFC to just the one shot on target that drew a good save from Onana from Alexis Mac Allister.
United had a shot at goal of their own as Hojlund forced a save from Alisson although despite the tight angle, any top striker will be scoring in such situations.
Amorim's side did themselves proud in that first period as they went pound-for-pound with their great rivals.
0-0 at the break. Job half done.
But as we know with United, second halves can be our Achilles heel regardless of how the first 45 went. The next challenge would be to see if the players could continue to play in the same manner and perhaps do a bit more going forward rather than do what they usually do and lose concentration and drop their heads. It also usually involves a goal not long after the restart as well.
This time, it was no different as 7 minutes into the half, goal.
However, it was UNITED who took the lead!
This went against the grain of what we've been seeing recently as the butcher Lisandro Martinez fires the ball into the roof of the net with his left-foot from a tight angle that reminded me of Giggs' strike against Arsenal in 99.
This induced absolute scenes in the away end as everyone lost their shit.
Martinez's goal was also the first United scored at Anfield in the league since Jose Mourinho's final game in charge in 18/19 when his side lost 3-1 to Jurgen Klopp's team.
While taking the lead was a step in the right direction, concentration was key again because in recent years, we've had the tendency to concede not long after scoring.
And unfortunately, old habits die hard as Cody Gakpo rifled one in into the top corner from a tight angle as well. He sat fellow Dutchman De Ligt down before equalizing for his side.
It was at this point that most perhaps feared the worst because it is very easy for United to drop their heads and completely capitulate from these type of situations.
Then on 70 minutes, penalty to Liverpool. De Ligt involved again as an unfortunate handball allowed Mo Salah to put his side ahead. It wasn't his best spot-kick but it was enough to get past Onana although the goalkeeper will be really disappointed that he didn't save it after getting two hands to the ball.
Here we go again.
Liverpool were now smelling blood and attacking the famous Kop End, were looking to go in for the kill.
However, unlike the crumbling United we've seen in the past, Amorim's players were resilient and not only withstood LFC's attacks, but limited them to few clear-cut opportunities and created chances of their own.
The United boss decided to make an attacking change as he brought on an out-of-favor Garnacho for Mainoo as captain Bruno dropped deeper next to Ugarte in midfield.
This change proved correct as the young Argentinian put in a cross that gave Amad the opportunity to level things up for United.
The December player of the month obliged as he put it in the back of the net from the penalty spot to once again, send the away end into raptures.
That was the Ivorian's 8th goal involvement (3 goals and 5 assists) since Amorim's appointment in November.
A changed man since the departure of Erik ten Hag.
But the game was far from over as anybody could've won it.
It really was back and forth and with 7 minutes added on, anything was possible.
Virgil van Dijk had a brilliant chance to nick it at the end after a header was flicked on from a corner to which the LFC captain found himself in time and space but instead found Onana with his header rather than the back of the net despite being in the six-yard box.
That wasn't the end of it though as Harry Maguire had an even better chance with the final kick of the game to truly send United into euphoria.
Substitute Zirkzee who had his name positively cheered by the United fans this time round, found himself in space and time in the box but instead of shooting, played a square ball to Maguire who was in the centre of the goal and had nigh on an empty net gaping in front of him. To everyone's disappointment though, he ended up putting his effort over the bar and with that, went any chances of United getting the unlikely late win at Anfield.
But that was a performance. That was a performance, one that all of us are proud of.
As the captain said post-match though, “We can't be satisfied. I'm pretty upset”.
“If we can show this at Anfield, why can't we do this every week? We need to be aware that we need much more from ourselves”.
And he's absolutely right.
His manager will feel the same but at least for this one performance, his side showed that character, fight and passion that which has been lacking for so long. He spoke about a lack of leaders as well in his presser before this game but leadership is what he got especially from his captain.
Amorim stuck to his guns and played his style rather than do what the media wanted and opt for a different approach. What 'Amorim ball' (if you will) shows is that, when the players are on it, it can work even at the toughest of places.
Away at Arsenal, City and now Liverpool, the performances improved. The first half at The Emirates was similar to this, but the second was poor. Most of the game at the Etihad was good but not great. But today, ALL of it was pretty damn good and we more than held our own.
Every one of those players can hold their heads up high as even the substitutes made an impact proving the manager right on those as well.
Leny Yoro came in for De Ligt and made a brilliant Wan-Bissaka-esque last-ditch tackle to deny Darwin Nunez a one-on-one late in the game; Garnacho got the assist for Amad; and Zirkzee made some difference too and should've had a match-winning assist.
A lot of what the players and manager did today was spot on.
Consistency is the next step with this team and it doesn't get any easier as United travel to Arsenal (again) for the FA Cup, the start of the defence of our trophy.
Ratings
Onana - 6
De Ligt - 6
Maguire - 7
Martinez - 7
Mazraoui - 7
Ugarte - 8 MOTM
Mainoo - 7
Dalot - 7
Amad - 6.5
Bruno - 7.5
Hpjlund - 5
Garnacho - 6.5
Yoro - 6.5
Zirkzee - 6.5
Ruben Amorim - 8
Final Thoughts
That was all we wanted as United fans. Just showing up nowadays is something that we have to ask for, unfortunately.
But what's even more frustrating than that is that when we do show up, we can do what we did today. It proves that it's not a lack of quality but rather attitude that is questioned.
We know that that is the problem with a lot of our players but for this game in isolation, we couldn't have asked for much more.
Bruno is right though in saying that if we can do it at Anfield, then there should be no excuse as to why we can't do it everywhere.
Consistency is the next challenge with this team as we all felt pretty good after the derby victory only to not win again since.
While this wasn't a win, it can still give us a massive boost moving forward.
But a great game nonetheless and one that we can be happy with.
Background Image: Amad scores a late equalizer to get Man Utd an unlikely 2-2 draw against Liverpool | Image credit: Getty Images via Eurosport