Louis van Gaal has now clinched four wins out of four matches against Liverpool. Wayne Rooney netted his first goal at Anfield in over a decade to earn three points for Manchester United.
Jurgen Klopp’s men had more attempts on goal, but David de Gea gave a ‘Man of the Match’ performance to deny the Merseyside giants. Rooney broke Henry’s record of most goals for one club in the Premier League after scoring his 176th goal in the red jersey. United are now six points ahead of Liverpool and seven points behind the joint leaders Leicester and Arsenal.
“To beat Liverpool is always important,” Van Gaal said.
“It was important because our competitors have lost points.” Asked if he believed United could win the championship, Van Gaal said: “We are seven points behind now. We have a lot of matches still to go. We started 2016 very good with a lot of wins – this game will give a big boost to the players and the fans and the environment of Manchester United.
“You have to see it always in perspective. It is for the fans, for me and the players a fantastic win and it will give us a boost. There are matches we have played much better than today and in that perspective I can’t say it is a good day because Liverpool dominated in the first half.”
“A striker who scores is always very important and now he is scoring in a row and we are winning in a row. I’m very happy for him but also for Manchester United. And for the fans. Everyone wants to see Rooney scoring.”
Arsenal was involved in a goalless draw at Stoke City on Sunday. Arsene Wenger’s men are still at the summit because of their superior goal difference.Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester City were held by Aston Villa at Villa Park. Riyad Mahrez missed a penalty in the 1 – 1 draw at the weekend.
Manchester City won 4 – 0 against Alan Pardew’s Crystal Palace. The Citizens scored from all of their attempts on target. A brace from Aguero and a goal each from Silva and Delph helped City to decrease the gap at the top of the table.
Tottenham are also keeping pace with the teams at the top of the table. Spurs defeated Sam Allardyce’s Sunderland 4 – 1 at White Hart Lane. Christian Eriksen scored two while Dembele and Kane added one each in the victory at home.
Chelsea vs. Everton was the most entertaining game of this game week. It stayed 0 – 0 until the half-time break, but six goals followed in the next 55 minutes. The Toffees grabbed two early second half goals, but Diego Costa inspired the Blues to make a comeback. Roberto Martinez’s men took the lead in injury time, and it seemed that they would take home three points from the Stamford Bridge. But in the last minute of extra time, John Terry struck the equalizer to save a point for his side.
Southampton won 3 – 0 at West Brom with Ward-Prowse and Tadic scoring all the goals for Saints. Newcastle United registered a 2 – 1 win over West Ham. Newcastle are trying everything in the transfer market to get out of the relegation battle. They are currently 17th in the table. Swansea, Sunderland and Aston Villa are in the danger zone as of now, but it seems that the relegation fight might go down to the wire this season.