Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings: Marcus Rashford returns to form in Red Devils victory

Manchester United picked up their first points of the season with a 2-1 home win over Liverpool in the Premier League on Monday night.

The Red Devils started fast in a loud atmosphere and took a deserved lead when Jadon Sancho sold a couple of defenders a dummy and buried his finish inside the near post.

Jurgen Klopp’s side were struggling to get a foothold in the match initially, though improved before the break - only for Marcus Rashford to race clear and hammer in a second soon after the restart.

Mohamed Salah headed in a rebound inside the final 10 minutes to set up a tense finale but United did enough to keep the ball at bay and seal a victory.

Here are the player ratings from the match at Old Trafford.

David de Gea – 7, didn’t have many shots to save bar a late Martinez clearance heading inside the post, and eventually conceded to Mohamed Salah. Good distribution avoided getting into the sticky situations of Brentford a week ago.

Diogo Dalot – 7, solid in defence and careful on the ball, he largely kept Luis Diaz quiet.

Raphael Varane – 7, did enough to suggest Harry Maguire will not be back in the team next weekend.

Lisandro Martinez – 8, excellent composure on the ball when under pressure from Liverpool’s press and defensively stout.

Tyrell Malacia – 9, could well be set to become a fans’ favourite Great work rate, relentless overlapping runs and good anticipation to intercept the Salah supply line.

Scott McTominay – 8, looked at home in Ten Hag’s holding role, though he now faces competition from Casemiro.

Christian Eriksen – 6, not always pinpoint with his passing and delivery but worked hard for the team.

Bruno Fernandes – 7, a very good first-half performance although a booking for a dive took the shine off his display.

Marcus Rashford – 8, his best performance in a United shirt for… 18 months? A well-deserved goal for his efforts.

Anthony Elanga – 7, Replaced at half-time but worked hard leading the press in the first half.

Jadon Sancho – 8, wonderfully taken opening goal which set the tone. Worked extremely hard and looked full of confidence.

Alisson Becker - 5, Beaten twice early, saved once by the post. Nowhere for the opening goal after buying the dummy. Great save from Rashford just after being beaten by him. Not incredible with his footwork.

Trent Alexander-Arnold - 4, Shocker of a start with a dangerous foul and failing to stop the cross for the goal inside and then being booked, all in 25’. Improved in terms of some of his delivery from wide, but defensively missed out on plenty of challenges.

Joe Gomez - 4, A big block on Rashford to prevent it being two early on and made a couple of important recovery runs. Speed across the ground was good but Gomez was lacking in aggression for a few challenges which he lost out on.

Virgil van Dijk - 5, Fine on the ball but United often steered clear of him with their build-up play. Beat Rashford in a one-on-one duel but didn’t close down Sancho for the goal. Nowhere near his imperious best.

Andy Robertson - 5, Some good runs down the left flank after Liverpool woke up around the 30-minute mark. Defensively had a lot less to do than his opposite number but couldn’t find a telling delivery in the offensive third.

Jordan Henderson - 3, Deepest midfielder from the start this time but bypassed very easily in the opening stages. Gifted the second goal with a dreadful five-second comedy show of miscontrol and mis-timing tackles. Subbed minutes later.

Harvey Elliott - 6, Very quiet in the first half but had the Reds’ best chance with an effort which was blocked. Hard-working and tried to find some decent combinations going forward but a little inaccurate with the passing at times.

James Milner - 6, Was the only one of the central three who tried to rattle United and produce something in attack but was too slow to get on the end of a few moves. Probably the best of the midfield three but as a group they did not work.

Mohamed Salah - 6, Crowded out with regularity and unable to link much with Alexander-Arnold or Elliott, while a couple of efforts were blocked or off target. Still found a moment to pop up with a goal, heading in a rebound.

Roberto Firmino - 4, Still looks very rusty. Extremely deep a lot of the time - often behind two midfielders - but did tee up Salah for a chance. Offered nothing in the box.

Luis Diaz - 5, The main outlet first half, able to stretch play at times and create one-on-ones. Fouled plenty of times to draw yellow cards but it also stopped him getting near the goal.