There's never any love lost between Man United and Liverpool. We went into Thursday's first ever European tie expecting fireworks and we got them, to a certain extent. The Spanish referee's proclivity for showing a yellow card every other minute certainly put a bit of a dampener on things but there was still a bit of needle to give everyone something to talk about today. Something to talk about other than Man United's limp and lifeless performance that is.
After Jurgen Klopp's side left Anfield with a two goal advantage, they must be feeling supremely confident ahead of next week's return leg. United were nothing short of embarrassing at times and their ability to put up any kind of decent fight next week could be further hampered by the fact that Marouane Fellaini was caught on camera sending Emre Can to the floor just before the full time whistle.
Fairly brainless, in keeping with the big Belgian's performance at Anfield and although, it has been suggested that he can expect some retroactive punishment, one man who doesn't want to see that happen is Can himself:
It was just a small fight. It was okay. It was not a boxing ring punch. Fellaini is a fair sportsman. He touched my throat with his elbow but it is okay.
It must be said that although it was not 'a boxing ring punch', Can certainly stayed down as if he'd just been clocked by Carl Frampton but we'll leave that for United fans to argue the point over.
So is this a strange show of sportsmanship between bitter rivals? Or a ploy of another kind. Despite Van Gaal's insistence that his Belgian was one of the best players on the pitch, Fellaini was clumsy in possession and looked like a liability at times on Thursday.
Perhaps a lot of Liverpool fans will join Can in hoping that he doesn't get punished so that he can play in the return leg on Thursday.
