Erik ten Hag admitted to having “mixed emotions” after Manchester United and Liverpool played out a thrilling 2-2 draw on Sunday, as the Red Devils fell further behind the Premier League’s top four.
Wondergoals from Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo put United on the brink of another huge victory over the Reds, less than a month after they dumped their old rivals out of the FA Cup at the quarter-final stage.
However, Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s clumsy trip on Harvey Elliott allowed Mohamed Salah to slot home from the penalty spot late on, though Liverpool failed to grab a winner which would have taken them top of the table.
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While United could take some consolation from denting Jurgen Klopp’s hopes of a farewell league title, they have now dropped seven points from winning positions in their last three games.
United conceded a 99th-minute equaliser in last week’s 1-1 draw with Brentford before two stoppage-time goals from Cole Palmer condemned them to a 4-3 defeat at Chelsea on Thursday, and Ten Hag was frustrated to see further points slip through their fingers.
“That’s what I told the players – it’s mixed emotions,” Ten Hag said when asked for his thoughts on the result.
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“On one side, we’re very disappointed. Again, we gave a win away, out of our hands by making a not very clever mistake, like on Thursday and like last Saturday.
“We’ve lost seven points in one week, when we should have had nine points. That makes a huge difference.
“On the other side, I’m very proud of this team and we have young players coming in and giving these performances at this level. It shows the future for Manchester United is very bright.
“In the first half, we were bullied by Liverpool. The young players were sometimes overwhelmed but in the second half, they stepped up and you saw the improvement. They were convinced we could get a win.”
Later on Sunday, Tottenham beat Nottingham Forest 3-1 to leapfrog Aston Villa into fourth place, with both teams now 11 points clear of United.
There’s been movement in the top four after Spurs’ home win…
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Asked whether Champions League qualification is now beyond his team, Ten Hag said: “I don’t know. We will keep fighting.
“We could and should have won all three games this week. Brentford was our worst performance, we didn’t deserve to win there.
“But in the other two games, if you are in a winning position, then you should take the win and that makes the difference.
“We’ll fight and then we will see where we end up. It’s clear we are far behind but we will fight for every point.”
