Even though Kobbie Mainoo scored a stunning first professional goal at Old Trafford, he was left with mixed feelings.
In the second half, the 18-year-old forward scored an amazing goal from the edge of the area to put Manchester United ahead of Liverpool.
But Mohamed Salah scored a late penalty for Liverpool and knocked out Mainoo’s goal. Fans will still remember his goal fondly even though it wasn’t the winner.
Erik ten Hag’s team missed out on three points here for Mainoo.
We were let down by it. “After a tough first half, we worked hard to get back into the game,” he told the BBC. “We lost it; we wanted the three points in the end, and it’s a big game for us as the season comes to a close.”
“It’s hard to take not getting three points.”
Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s hasty tackle on substitute Harvey Elliott set up Salah’s chance to level the game from the penalty spot. Elliott had a quiet game by his standards.
Mainoo said, “Again, penalties have cost us, but we have to keep working to fix these little things that keep costing us and keep trying to get better.”
Mainoo and his teammates had a terrible first half. They didn’t even manage a single shot on goal, and Liverpool controlled the game, especially in the middle of the field.
After United messed up a set piece, Luis Diaz scored an amazing goal to put Liverpool ahead. The big loss for the visitors was that they couldn’t make it more than a 1-0 lead at halftime.
It was Diaz’s goal that he got away from Mainoo and into space. When asked what went wrong, the United midfielder said, “With that one, I was supposed to be double-teaming Virgil van Dijk with Rasmus Hojlund and leaving Luis Diaz.”
“We should have cleared it up, and the mix-up and small details cost us.”
Erik ten Hag told his team at halftime to “get ourselves back into the game.” He added, “There were some positives, but we were behind. In these kinds of games, it’s going to be hard to take.”
“It was such a big game that you have to find something against these teams.”
After the draw, Manchester United is now 11 points behind Aston Villa and Tottenham. They are also still not in the running for a spot in the Champions League, even though the top five teams are expected to make it.
Mainoo, on the other hand, is still not giving up.
He said, “I mean, we have a lot of important games coming up.” It’s important for us to work together and do our best.
