Jonny Evans was pleased by Manchester United’s hard-fought, morale-boosting point at Liverpool as Erik ten Hag’s men blocked out the memories of last season’s 7-0 Anfield annihilation.
Pressure and scrutiny has increased as the Dutchman’s difficult second season has worn on, with last weekend’s 3-0 home humbling by Bournemouth the nadir of a wretched campaign.
A lifeless 1-0 home loss to Bayern Munich followed on Tuesday night, with United exiting the Champions League and European football just days before a daunting trip to in-form rivals Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp’s men had won every home match this season and had 34 attempts on Sunday, but Andre Onana pulled off eight saves as the visitors dug deep to secure a much-needed 0-0 draw.
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“We’ll take the point,” experienced centre-back Evans said. “I think we are obviously seventh in the league at the moment, but we were eighth going into the match. Liverpool were top.
“It was a hard-fought point. They dominated the game in terms of being around our box, but we probably had two of the best chances.
“I’ve played games here where you have to grind it out. You don’t always come to Anfield and play well.
“I’ve been a part of this club in the past – even back then, in 2013, we got a win here but the game was very difficult. You have to grind it out.
“It’s a battle, really. It is a game of moments, big moments in the game. We’ll come away, take the point, and move on.”
Sunday match was United’s first trip to Anfield since March’s 7-0 thumping – the largest defeat for either side in this fixture.
Evans was among the United fans watching through his fingers on that occasion and, having returned to the club over the summer, said the whole squad put that loss to the back of their minds.
“I think you block it out by not listening to that,” the 35-year-old academy product said.
“I think we have our own responsibilities going into the game and every game is a chance to win. We always go into every game thinking we are going to win.”
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk certainly did not believe that judging by his comments after a frustrating afternoon, claiming only one team tried to win and United were “buzzing” with a point.
“It is their home patch, they’ve got a good record here and they are playing well,” Evans said.
“They are at the top of the league, they’ve got some dangerous players. We’ll take the point, we defended our box well and move on from it.”
Evans impressed alongside Raphael Varane in the heart of an injury-hit defence, with Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia ruled out for a game that ended with Diogo Dalot’s sending-off.
“When you are defending on the edge of your box, there are always fine margins at that point,” he said.
“When you come away with a clean sheet after defending like that, it is always enjoyable.”
Asked if this can be the start of something, Evans said: “I think you can take this game in isolation, Man United versus Liverpool is a big match.
“I think we can take the fact that we have been able to defend our box as something we have probably… in the last three or four weeks when we have had to defend our box, we haven’t done that well enough.
“It is something we have discussed, so we take that out of it. Take confidence from it.”
Paris Saint-Germain 3-3 Le Havre: Ramos rescues point but title confirmation must wait
Paris Saint-Germain were held to a 3-3 draw at home to relegation-battling Le Havre on Saturday and will need to wait before confirming their 12th Ligue 1 title.
PSG would have clinched the title with three games to spare with a victory. They have a 12-point gap over second-placed Monaco, who are at Lyon on Sunday, and a goal difference of 47 to Monaco's 18.
The away side opened the scoring in the 19th minute through Christopher Operi and PSG levelled 10 minutes later with Bradley Barcola scoring, but Le Havre went ahead again seven minutes before the break when Andre Ayew found the net.
Le Havre made it 3-1 with an Abdoulaye Toure penalty in the 61st minute, before Achrif Hakimi gave PSG hope with a goal 12 minutes from time and Goncalo Ramos levelled in added time. Le Havre are 15th on 29 points.
Aston Villa 2-2 Chelsea: Gallagher caps Blues fightback at Villa Park
Conor Gallagher scored the equaliser as Chelsea fought back from two goals down to clinch a deserved 2-2 draw with Champions League-chasing Aston Villa on Saturday.
Villa looked set to go nine points clear of Tottenham in the race to finish in the Premier League's top four, with Marc Cucurella's own goal and Morgan Rogers' low drive giving them a handsome half-time lead.
Mauricio Pochettino's men dominated much of the first half without reward, but they continued to press after the interval and cultured finishes from Noni Madueke and Gallagher dragged them level.
They almost completed a fine comeback in stoppage time, but there was relief for Villa when referee Craig Pawson disallowed a goal for Chelsea defender Axel Disasi following a VAR review due to an infringement from Benoit Badiashile.
It meant Villa boss Unai Emery was unable to celebrate his new long-term contract with three points, with his team now seven points clear of fifth-placed Spurs, who have three games in hand on their rivals.
Chelsea stay ninth and are five points adrift of the top seven, but with a game in hand to come, their European hopes are not yet over.
Villa made a flying start and were ahead within four minutes, albeit in somewhat fortunate circumstances. John McGinn didn't get a clean connection on Lucas Digne's left-wing cutback, but his shot bounced off Cucurella and into the net.
Chelsea thought they were level after 16 minutes as Nicolas Jackson raced clear to finish into the roof of the net, but his strike was disallowed for offside after a VAR review, with replays showing he was leaning beyond Matty Cash.
Jackson should then have equalised when found by Cucurella six yards out, but he could only send his header against the foot of the post and wide.
Villa then doubled their lead against the run of play shortly before half-time, with Djordje Petrovic powerless as Rogers squeezed his shot through Trevoh Chalobah's legs and in.
A hamstring injury saw Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez withdrawn at half-time, and his replacement Robin Olsen was beaten after 62 minutes, Madueke stroking home after Gallagher forced a high turnover.
Olsen stuck out an arm to deny Madueke a second with 71 minutes gone, but he had no chance as the Blues levelled with nine minutes to play, Gallagher rifling a left-footed finish into the top-left corner.
Chelsea thought they had won it when Disasi headed home five minutes into stoppage time, but referee Pawson disallowed the goal following a VAR review, with Badiashile adjudged to have fouled Diego Carlos in the build-up.
Villa throw it away
Villa could hardly have wished for a stronger position at half-time. Despite Chelsea carving out several good openings, they found themselves 2-0 up and primed to exploit their opponents further through the pace of Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey.
Chelsea had lost 16 of their previous 18 Premier League games when trailing at half-time (one win, one draw), losing their last eight when two or more goals behind at the break.
However, Emery's men simply didn't get going after the restart, and only a late VAR review saved them from a crushing defeat, with Disasi's potential winner chalked off for a foul by fellow defender Badiashile.
Gallagher leads from the front
Gallagher has polarised opinion at times this season, but Chelsea's stand-in skipper produced a talismanic display just when his team needed him most at Villa Park.
The England international is known for his tenacious work out of possession, and he forced a turnover on the corner of the Villa box in the build-up to Madueke's goal.
Gallagher's own strike, which flew into the top corner to stun the home faithful, took him to double figures for Premier League goal involvements for the season (four goals, six assists). He has only achieved that feat in one other campaign in the competition, scoring eight goals and adding three assists on loan at Crystal Palace in 2021-22.
Four of his seven Premier League goals for Chelsea, meanwhile, have now come from outside the area.
Chelsea Women 0-2 Barcelona Femeni (1-2 agg): Holders reach Champions League final again
Women's Champions League holders Barcelona overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit to reach a fourth straight final on Saturday, beating 10-player Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Emma Hayes' hopes of ending her glittering spell with the Blues by lifting the Champions League trophy were dashed in heartbreaking fashion in front of a sell-out crowd in West London.
Barca went ahead through Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmati 26 minutes in, the diminutive Spaniard seeing her shot deflect off Kadeisha Buchanan to beat Hannah Hampton.
The hosts pushed for a response as Sjoeke Nuksen struck the post, but their position worsened just before the hour mark as Buchanan was perhaps harshly shown a second yellow card for her tackle on Salma Paralluelo.
Barca penned their hosts back from there and Bonmati was decisive again as they inched ahead with 15 minutes to play, drawing a foul from Ashley Lawrence and allowing Fridolina Rolfo to convert from the penalty spot.
Jonatan Giraldez's team have won two of the last three editions of the Champions League, also losing in the final to Lyon in 2021-22. They could be reunited with Les Lyonnaises in next month's final in Bilbao, as they hold a 3-2 lead over Paris Saint-Germain at the halfway stage of the other semi-final.
Data Debrief: Bonmati caps trademark Barca performance
Aided by Buchanan's red card, Barcelona showcased their mastery of possession-based football at Stamford Bridge, enjoying 67.8 per cent of the possession and completing over twice as many passes as Chelsea (583 to 224).
Bonmati was at the centre of everything for the Blaugrana, playing a key role in both goals as well as laying on two chances for team-mates and playing 31 passes in the final third – no Chelsea player recorded more than 11.
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