Manchester United manager José Mourinho was happy to come away with a point from Anfield after his side played out a goalless draw against Liverpool.
In a game that is surely to be quickly forgotten, they were few chances of note for both sides, as United were content to play for the point and frustrate Jürgen Klopp’s side by staying compact in defence.
Both sides had their moments though late in the first half, with Joel Matip being denied by a brilliant save from David de Gea, before Romelu Lukaku shot straight at Simon Mignolet after some good build-up play.
In his post-match interview with Sky Sports, Mourinho explained that he would have liked to have more options on the bench to change the game, but was unable to do so with the likes of Paul Pogba and Marouane Fellaini all on the sidelines.
He said:
I felt I needed my bench, but I had no bench.I need to play against [Jordan] Henderson, [Emre] Can and [Georginio] Wijnaldum with power and energy. We only had two midfield players and I had nobody else to compensate for that.
They also brought Coutinho inside between the lines. I had Herrera and Matic and nobody else on the bench to try and make a difference, so we were progressively losing control [in the second half], they had a little more initiative.
Mourinho also had a couple of words for pundits who criticised his approach to this encounter, and called the draw a positive draw for his side:
I know that for you and the experts it is easy to speak but it is more difficult on this side of the game. They [Liverpool] are faster than us in midfield, I had no chance to bring the game in another direction, so it is a positive point for us.
