£19 million Man United star superb at Anfield, he dealt with Salah and Diaz comfortably

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Heading into the game at Anfield, the writing looked to be on the wall for Erik ten Hag and Manchester United.

Manchester United went into the Premier League game against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool knowing that they were firmly the underdogs in the encounter and many were expecting a battering.

However, that did not pan out as Erik ten Hag’s men held out for a valiant Anfield point, despite offering precious little going forward, the Red Devils held off their Merseyside opponents.

Their back four was boosted by the return of Raphael Varane, who was immense but it was another defender who excelled, too.

Dalot’s performance

Diogo Dalot has received criticism this season for his struggles defensively, particularly with the defeat against Newcastle United, the Portuguese star was exposed time and time again.

There may have been a few shudders of nerves from United fans when Dalot was given the nod ahead of the defensively secure Aaron Wan-Bissaka but it turned out to be the right decision.

Dalot had to deal with the tricky Luis Diaz but he did exceptionally well against the Colombian and even dealt with Mohamed Salah on occasion and looked confident and comfortable.

The defence as a whole looked confident and composed and the Portuguese defender was doing his best to get the away fans onside.

The argument against Dalot has been his weaknesses defensively but if he carries on with these displays against some of the Premier League’s better wingers, then he could be the undisputed first choice.

He won 100 per cent of his aerial duels as well as 75 per cent of his ground duels and was certainly a contender for man of the match, but a moment late on ruined his game, but for reasons out of his control.

Another refereeing decision goes against United

After such a steady performance defensively, Dalot thought he should have been awarded a throw-in late on but referee Michael Oliver thought differently and awarded the decision in Liverpool’s favour.

After 92 minutes of defending so resolutely, Dalot was understandably frustrated with the decision and threw his hands up in the air and was booked for dissent.

However, just seconds later, Michael Oliver brandished a red card to the former FC Porto defender which caused absolute fury from Erik ten Hag, understandably too.

Dalot deserves plaudits for his performance but the red card is one that was so bizarre. It will be even more frustrating to the Red Devils when Darwin Nunez sarcastically clapped Oliver and received just a yellow card.