Erik ten Hag delivers honest Liverpool penalty verdict and 'bullied' claims after Man Utd draw

Erik ten Hag praised Manchester United’s second-half performance as they ensured Liverpool suffered a setback in their pursuit of the Premier League title.

The Reds were held to a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford and their ambitions of being crowned champions no longer rest in their own hands.

Liverpool were dominant in the first period especially, with Luis Diaz opening the scoring in the 23rd minute while Dominik Szoboszlai, Darwin Nunez and Mo Salah missed opportunities.

But United were gifted a chance to get back into the game four minutes after the interval, with Bruno Fernandes cutting out Jarell Quansah’s loose pass before spotting visiting Caoimhin Kelleher off his line and finishing with aplomb. Kobbie Mainoo then gave ten Hag’s side the lead on 67 minutes with a fine goal from the edge of the box.

However, Liverpool managed to battle their way back into the encounter and Harvey Elliott won a penalty when fouled by Aaron Wan Bissaka - with Mo Salah keeping his cool to equalise. It meant that the Reds moved back on 71 points with leaders Arsenal - although the Gunners have a better goal difference of +9.

On United’s performance, United boss ten Hag said: "Maybe you heard or you were in the dressing room but that's what I told the players - mixed emotions. On one side, very disappointed. Again, we give a certain win out of our hands by making, let's say, not a very clever mistake there, like on Thursday and like last Saturday. And we lose seven points in one week, where we should have had nine points. That makes a huge difference. On the other side, I'm very proud of this team and we have young players coming in and then give this performance and can play on this level and it shows the future for Man United is very bright."

"You saw Liverpool were dominating the game but we stayed in the game. In decisive moments, we were losing duels and losing battles. But then the resilience and the quality, the way we play and the way, in and out of possession, how we organised it and how they played there together. Also the resilience because it was necessary in the first half, when we didn't win the decisive duels and we were hammered. We were bullied by Liverpool. The young players were sometimes even overwhelmed but, then, in the second half, they stepped up and you saw the improvement in the belief and they were convinced we could get a win."

On the penalty decision, ten Hag added: "It was similar on Thursday but, on Thursday, it wasn't a penalty (in a 4-3 loss to Chelsea). I wanted to see if it was a penalty but it was the right decision. I can't disagree with that."