Late Maguire goal ends Anfield hoodoo

After nine painful years, and at the 11th time of asking, Manchester United ended its Anfield hoodoo with a 2-1 win against defending Premier League champion Liverpool on Sunday, while Aston Villa's resurgence continued with a comeback win against Tottenham Hotspur.

Harry Maguire's header in the 84th minute sealed one of United's most significant wins under coach Ruben Amorim and consigned Liverpool to a fourth straight defeat in all competitions.

The frustration of so many miserable experiences on Merseyside appeared to pour out of Maguire as the defender celebrated in front of United's traveling fans.

"It means everything. They've had the better of us over the last few years and we know that and it hasn't been good enough for our club," Maguire said. "The old cliche is that it is only three points, but it definitely isn't. It means a lot more than that for the club, the boys and the fans."

Maguire's goal came late in another frenetic and thrilling match involving Liverpool in a season of so many dramatic finales for Arne Slot's team.

That's three league games in a row in which Liverpool has been beaten by a goal scored in the last 10 minutes of regulation time or beyond. Before that, it had scraped to late wins of its own in six of the first seven games.

So while Maguire's headed effort maintained the trend of late goals, perhaps the biggest surprise was that there wasn't another twist in the tale.

There might have been when Cody Gakpo headed wide with an open goal to aim at, and the fourth official indicated there would be eight minutes of added time.

The Dutch forward had already got Liverpool back on level terms in the 78th — poking home from close range after Bryan Mbeumo had fired United ahead inside two minutes.

'Stay humble, keep working'

United's last win at Anfield came back in 2016 when Wayne Rooney scored the only goal of the match. Since then, there have been some humiliating defeats, notably the 7-0 rout in 2023 and a 4-0 loss a year earlier.

Not only has Amorim ended that bitter run, but he also collected back-to-back wins in the league for the first time since taking over at United last November.

The Portuguese coach has been under increasing pressure, with speculation mounting over his position after a troubled start to his first full season in charge. While United is ninth in the standings, it is only two points off the top four and such a morale-boosting performance could finally prove a turning point for Amorim.

"It was really important for our fans, because they are struggling," Amorim said. "Today they saw a different thing, and that is really important. To come here to the stadium of the champion, our biggest rival, and to sing during the game, that is massive for us, so this win is for them."

Defeat for Liverpool raises more doubts about its wobbling title defense, leaving it in fourth place, four points behind leader Arsenal.

That is not an insurmountable gap, but the run of four straight defeats is Liverpool's worst losing run since 2014. It also extended Slot's worst run as Liverpool coach and further highlights weaknesses in his team, which has only kept two clean sheets in 12 games in all competitions this season.

In attack, Mohamed Salah's only goal in his last seven league games was a penalty against Burnley, while British-record signing Alexander Isak has scored just one goal in seven appearances since joining from Newcastle.

"We have to stick together. Not just as players, but the fans and everyone," said Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk. "First and foremost, we have to stay humble and keep working. We need to keep our confidence high and stay very calm."

Disputed opener

Liverpool players felt aggrieved by United's opener after play was allowed to go on despite Alexis Mac Allister going down with a head injury when clashing with teammate Van Dijk.

Referee Michael Oliver didn't blow his whistle and Amad Diallo slipped a pass through to Mbeumo, who lashed a shot past Giorgi Mamardashvili at the goalkeeper's near post.

"The main thing I should do now is not to complain or do these kinds of things," Slot said. "We could have done much better after Macca was on the floor, we should have done better. But, the well-being of a player is something that is important, and, if a player needs four stitches, you would hope everybody understands that he needs immediate treatment.

"That's not the reason why we lost this game. The reason is that we missed far too many chances."

Gakpo had the best of them, hitting the post on three occasions.

Brilliant Buendia

Emiliano Buendia's curling shot sealed a 2-1 comeback win for Aston Villa against Tottenham.

The victory continued Villa's resurgence after a desperate start to the season and denied Spurs the chance to provisionally move up to second in the standings.

Buendia shimmied his way across the edge of the box in the 77th minute at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before sweeping a perfect shot low into the bottom corner.

It was Villa's fifth-straight win in all competitions after failing to pick up a victory in its first six games of the campaign. It ended Spurs' seven-game unbeaten run that looked set to continue when Rodrigo Bentancur fired the home team ahead after just five minutes.

Morgan Rogers leveled the game in the 37th before Villa went on to take all three points and consign Tottenham coach Thomas Frank to his second league loss since taking over in the summer.

Agencies