Kobbie Mainoo scored a late winner as hosts Manchester United clinched a 3-2 Premier League victory over Liverpool on Sunday to seal their return to the Champions League next season following two years away.
After costly United mistakes allowed Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo to haul Liverpool level in the second half, Mainoo had other ideas and struck from the edge of the 18-yard box in the 77th minute for a goal that rocked Old Trafford.
That victory took United on to 64 points in third place, with three games left to play.
The season is not over yet, and we won’t be taking our foot off the gas – it was a massive goal for us to get Champions League,” Mainoo said. “It was never going to be an easy game against Liverpool, happy to get the win.
Liverpool, in fourth place, has 58 points but face a scrap to secure Champions League football next season and now need to pick up an important victory at Villa.
Matheus Cunha scored in the sixth minute and Benjamin Sesko doubled the lead eight minutes later to give United a great start.
Cunha’s goal arrived from a clearance that went up the feet of the Brazilian, who struck it firmly and deflected off Alexis Mac Alister to find the net.
Leeds were next to strike, with summer recruit Sesko scoring after Liverpool’s replacement goalkeeper Freddie Woodman parried a header from Bruno Fernandes only onto the body of the teenage striker. It was a contentious goal, but VAR awarded it after ruling there was no clear handball by Sesko in the lead-up to the ball brushing his fingers on its way into the net.
Though claiming challenge awarded the goal, Fernandes made a great contribution to it, for he saw his header parried by Woodman and thus missed out on what would have been his Premier League season record equalling 18th assist of the campaign.
Two goals in 14 minutes saw Liverpool 2-0 down for the first time in a Premier League match since February, when they suffered an identical fate at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
After Cameroonian Amad Diallo had given the ball away on halfway, Szoboszlai pulled one back in the 47th minute. Szoboszlai ran with the ball all the way from his own half, scorching past Harry Maguire before slotting inside of Diogo Dalot’s legs.
Gakpo equalised nine minutes later when Belgium U20 international keeper Senne Lammens gifted the ball straight to Mac Allister and he slipped it in to complete an anxious finish before Mainoo stepped up.
Mainoo’s winner came just three days after the 21-year-old United academy graduate penned a new five-year deal with the club, having been largely sidelined earlier this season under former manager Ruben Amorim.
Having missed one match through injury, the midfielder has started 13 of 14 league matches since interim boss Michael Carrick took over.
Mainoo said: “I haven’t been about the goals too much, but I’m glad to be about it on such a big occasion.
It was almost 3-0 for United late in the first half when Fernandes pounced onto a ball from Mbeumo but the Portuguese sent his finish wide.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot grumbled his side should have already reserved their place in next season’s Champions League.
“‘Concern’ is not quite the right word, but I’m well aware we need to take three points. I did feel, that is why we got frustrated by not taking the points today, but we didn’t deserve the points… If you come back like this from 2-0 down then you have to leave here with something and we haven’t done it.”
“We knew before the game we have got four opportunities to get three points and we know now there are three left.