Troy Deeney has named the ‘best player on the pitch’ in Liverpool and Manchester United’s thrilling Premier League draw.
United travelled to Anfield on Sunday afternoon on the back of four straight defeats under Ruben Amorim, who was appointed as Erik ten Hag’s replacement in November.
The form guide pointed to only one outcome but Manchester United produced an impressive and spirited performance to draw 2-2 with Premier League leaders Liverpool.
They even took the lead after half-time, Lisandro Martinez rifling home a superb opener past Alisson on 52 minutes.
Manchester United’s lead only lasted seven minutes, however, as Liverpool equalised through Cody Gakpo’s curling strike.
Liverpool scored again 10 minutes later to be on the verge of a fifth straight win, United suddenly heading for a fourth straight league defeat – something that has not happened since 1979.
But Amorim’s side responded well to the second-half setbacks and earned a well-deserved point through Amad Diallo’s 80th-minute goal.
Ex-Premier League striker Deeney named Diallo and Alexis Mac Allister in his BBC Sport Team of the Week and said the latter was the ‘best player on the pitch’.
World Cup winner Mac Allister is enjoying another impressive season at Anfield and Deeney believes he will establish himself as a ‘Liverpool legend’ if he stays at the club long enough.
‘Every time I watch him he always gets an assist and he always looks like the best player on the pitch,’ Deeney said.
‘I know that’s a bold statement to make when you’ve got people like Mohamed Salah, but every time I watch him he jumps off the screen to me.
‘Excellent performance against Manchester United, really combative, silky touches and he may go down as a Liverpool legend if he stays there long enough.’
On Diallo’s performance at Anfield, Deeney added: ‘The Anfield draw was a coming-of-age game for Diallo.
‘Every now and then you have a game where everyone goes “there he is” and to do it for Manchester United against Liverpool, who are flying high and everyone thought they’d win by six or seven, he was excellent.
‘The problem he’ll have now is that everyone will expect him to deliver those performances week on week.
‘At such a young age everyone will start to look at him as being the main man under this manager so he has a lot of pressure on his shoulders coming soon, but for now let’s just appreciate how well he’s doing.’
Despite failing to beat struggling Manchester United, Liverpool remain six points clear at the top of the Premier League as we enter the second-half of the season.
United are just 13th, 13 points outside the Champions League places and seven points above the relegation zone.
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