Sports

Sancho, Rashford’s Goals Lift Man United Versus Liverpool

Under pressure Manchester United bounced back from two opening Premier League defeats with a morale boosting 2-1 win against rivals Liverpool.

Erik ten Hag made four changes to the starting lineup that started the defeat to Brentford last weekend.

Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford scored two brilliant goals in each half to seal the win albeit Mohamed Salah got a late header for the visitors who are yet to win a league game this season.

Anthony Elanga came close to opening the scoring inside 10 minutes. A delightful through ball from Scott McTominay found Bruno Fernandes, who stretched to play in Elanga but the post denied him a goal.

Youngster Elanga who was preferred in the starting line up over Cristiano Ronaldo found Jadon Sancho in a crowded Liverpool box. The forward feinted a shot which James Milner fell for. Sancho manourevered the ball to escape the defenders’ attention and the ball nestled at the low left corner of Liverpool’s goal.

Luis Diaz came close to levelling up the scoreline, but his effort strayed wide of David De Gea’s goal following some good defensive pressure on the Colombian.

Danish midfield maestro Christian Eriksen almost doubled United’s lead directly from a free-kick but Alison tipped the ball out of touch for a corner.

Despite relentless attacking from the opposition, United’s backline – especially Raphael Varane and Martinez – combined well to keep them at bay. Martinez cleared Fernandes’s deflection off the line just moments before the half-time whistle.

Salah headed a late consolation for the Reds who are still without a win this season, drop two places adrift United in 16th place on the log.

Man Utd will hope to build momentum when they travel to Southampton in the early kick-off on Saturday, whilst Liverpool will look to respond against AFC Bournemouth later in the day.

Izuchukwu Okosi

Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc. In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio. He worked there for 13 years until October 2017. Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch. He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations. Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ). He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line. Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.