A win at Old Trafford for the hosts was enough to make it mathematically impossible that they could be knocked out of the top five Premier League places, so the brief from Michael Carrick to his players would've been clear.
Cunha in for Amad
An identical record to Liverpool in their last six league games (W3, D1, L2) meant both teams were evenly matched, with United seeking to do the double after beating the Reds at Anfield earlier in the 2025/26 campaign, thanks to a late Harry Maguire header.
Arne Slot made two changes to the Liverpool starting XI with Ryan Gravenberch and Jeremie Frimpong coming in in place of the injured Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak.
Carrick's only change was to bring in Matheus Cunha for Amad Diallo, a move that was to pay dividends as early as the sixth minute when the Brazilian found the net via a deflection from Alexis Mac Allister on what was the Argentinian's 200th Premier League appearance.
It was no more than the hosts deserved after they'd begun the game much the better of the two teams.
Sesko doubles United's lead
United hadn't lost at home in 25/26 when opening the scoring, nor had they lost at all in the Premier League (22 games) since a fixture against Brentford in May 2025 when doing so.
Worse was to follow for the visitors when Benjamin Sesko doubled the hosts' lead after only 14 minutes with his 11th of the season - more than any other United player - and this was despite 41.3% of the action since the start of the match actually taking place in United's defensive third of the pitch.
Liverpool's 70% possession between the 15' and 30' minute mark may have looked good on paper, but with only two off-target efforts to show for their toiling, there was little in the way of actual attacking intent.
That may have been due in part to the industry of both Cunha and Casemiro, with the pair consistently helping to break up the visitors' rhythm. Indeed, by the end of the game, the pair had contested 30 one-on-one duels between them and had won possession back on 11 separate occasions.
Szoboszlai eases Liverpool back into the match
It would be 41 minutes before Gravenberch had Liverpool's first shot on target, indicating just how on top United were in the first half.
The Red Devils had remained unbeaten since March 2024 when leading at half-time in a Premier League game, and certainly, there was no indication of what was to follow early in the second 45.
Just two minutes after the break, Dominik Szoboszlai cut out a wayward United pass in his own half and was allowed the freedom of Old Trafford to waltz into the area and confidently place a left-foot shot out of Senne Lammens' reach.
The Hungarian had again been one of Liverpool's brightest lights on what had been a grim day for them to that point.
12 one-on-ones contested and the winning back of possession on seven occasions are what we've come to expect, with the joint most tackles from a Reds' perspective on the day, as well as the second most touches (94), only adding to his superb showing.
Gakpo silences Old Trafford
Just 10 minutes later, Liverpool were level when Cody Gakpo fired home his 50th goal for the Reds, and fifth in seven PL appearances against United from Szoboszlai's assist, for an 11th Liverpool goal in the first 15 minutes of a second half this season - only Arsenal (14) and Chelsea (13) have scored more in that time frame.
What followed was a period of intense Liverpool pressure, with Gakpo, Szoboszlai, Frimpong and Florian Wirtz all causing issues for the hosts' back line.
Six touches in the box for the marauding right-back meant Luke Shaw was kept on his toes, and the Englishman's own raiding was kept to a minimum as a result.
Only one of Shaw's 47 touches was in Liverpool's box, the majority being square passes to defensive colleagues, and his most (six) into Kobbie Mainoo in central midfield.
Mainoo the match winner
Mainoo, in fact, would turn out to be the match winner with a stunning drive under pressure from the edge of the box in the 77th minute.
Slot's reaction on the sideline spoke volumes after none of his defenders, who had won the vast majority of their tackles to that point, could get out quickly enough to shut the Englishman down, leading to a 16th goal conceded by the Reds in the final 15 minutes of games this season (only Newcastle (19) and Burnley (17) have conceded more).
A late flourish from the visitors, which included 79% collective possession, wasn't enough to deny United victory, giving them their longest winning streak (three matches) since the four-game run in January/February.
Catch up on the match with Flashscore.
