Harry Maguire makes 'pretty comfortable' Liverpool claim after 'massive' Man United win

Maguire

Manchester United match-winner Harry Maguire said the victory at Liverpool was worth 'more than three points'.

The England international headed home in the 84th minute to earn United a 2-1 triumph at the home of their rivals.

It also secured Ruben Amorim's first back-to-back Premier League wins as United boss and deepened the gloom at Liverpool, who have now lost four games in a row for the first time under Arne Slot.

The defending champions had made their second-half pressure pay when Cody Gakpotapped into the net in the 78th minute to cancel out Bryan Mbeumo's controversial second-minute opener.

But six minutes later Maguire was given the freedom of the home penalty box to steer a header past Giorgi Mamardashvili and seal United's first victory at Anfield since 2016.

And speaking to BBC Match of the Day afterwards, the centre-back said:

Maguire

"It's been a long-time coming. It's been a tough place for us over recent years.

"We know how big it is for our fans. We have the cliche of it being 'only three points' but it is more than three points that today.

"It's massive for our club, for our fans and it is a great memory they are going to have.

“The lads are buzzing and as cliche as it is we need to build on it now and make sure to take the confidence from it and take the fighting spirit.

"We can play better on the ball, of course we can, we were sloppy at times, but there were times where we played through them and created numerous chances, especially in the first half.

"The fight and the spirit has got to be with us every game and that is something we need to make sure we show that against Brighton next Saturday. I'm sure the fans will have a good night."

Maguire admitted the travelling supporters would have 'feared the worst' when Gakpo equalised after previously hitting the woodwork on three separate occassions.

So when asked what was the key to the Red Devils hitting back,

Maguire said: "Staying in the game when they scored that equaliser. Although they had a lot of pressure in the game in the second half and Gakpo hit the post, aside from that I don't think they made that many chances and we felt pretty comfortable.

“Then they open us up with a well-worked goal.

"We could have really sunk our heads and gone under in that moment but we got together, and that is the most pleasing thing.

"The crowd was right behind them, and our fans with what they have experienced in recent years must have been fearing the worst.

“To come back from that and score the winner was really important."

And on finally securing successive league wins under Amorim, Maguire said: "It's embarrassing really. It's not a stat that we should even be speaking about because it is an embarrassing stat to have.

"Now that's out of the way let's try and make it three [wins] on Saturday against Brighton, because we have to start putting a bit more consistency together.

“The last three or four years we'd put in a performance like this and the following game we come down again. We have set a bench mark, there are a lot of areas we can do more, we were hanging on there and defending for the last 30 minutes or so.

"We'll analyse it. The manager strives for perfection so I'm sure he will want us to play better than we did in the second half. Great fight, big spirit, big win, but again we have to go again."

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