So close. So, so close. Manchester United came within five minutes of pulling off their best result since Paris in March. Had they done so, Ole Gunnar Solskjær would have been hailed for his tactical genius, for the boldness of the changes that forced Liverpool into their worst performance of the season, for the vision that found a plan from the most unpromising pieces. But results are the great validifiers, and the draw leaves United two points above the relegation zone. As Solskjær observed last week in what must have been for him a moment of devastating self-realisation, it’s not the 1990s any more.
Perhaps this will prove a springboard. Perhaps this was the performance that will remind United what they can be. Perhaps (and this may be more important to United fans in the short term) this will sow doubts at Liverpool and interrupt their title challenge. But the sense was that Adam Lalllana’s late equaliser changed everything. That it will persuade Liverpool that they can still pull out results when everything is going against them, and that it will confirm to United – board, fans and players – that stagnation is now their state.
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