When it comes to meetings with Manchester United, there’s very few Liverpool supporters that need a kick up the bum to get up for the match, but on the back of goals from Daniel Sturridge and Roberto Firmino, Anfield was absolutely rocking last night as the Reds eased their bitter rivals to one side in the first leg of their Europa League Round of 16 tie.
“The atmosphere tonight was unbelievable. It was really great and I want to say thank you to everybody that was involved in this atmosphere,” enthused Jurgen Klopp in his post-match presser. “It was easy to enjoy from the first until the last second. That was Liverpool how I knew it before I came here, so that was really, really great,” he said with a smile, both humbled and thrilled by the support from the stands. “Thank you for this.”
United gave the Liverpool backline a scare mere seconds after the final whistle when Marcus Rashford almost got an the end of a telling cross, but the hosts were in the ascendancy throughout with the Red Devils pinned back in their own half and the Kop doing everything in it’s power to spur the boys on to victory.
“The fans were brilliant, electric,” said Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, speaking with the press immediately after the final whistle. “That gave us a great boost,” enthused the skipper, though he was loath to see a number of good chances go begging. “De Gea made some good saves,” conceded Henderson, before adding, “We created a lot of chances and we felt we could be two or three up.”
