The tables have been turned at Old Trafford.
Not simply with Manchester United eclipsing Liverpool on the pitch to say a primary win of the season.
The United gamers have been, for as soon as, organised and coherent – in contrast to their followers.
Protests in opposition to the house owners have been vocal and huge exterior the stadium earlier than kick-off. But the “Glazers Out” chants have been largely drowned out in a cacophony of bile and slurs within the 15-minute march from a pub, through Sir Matt Busby Way, to the stadium concourse.
The activism by the streets may need been deliberate for days – whereas reflecting 17 years of anger in opposition to the Glazers – nevertheless it lacked lucid arguments in opposition to the American possession.
Instead a whole lot of followers celebrated the dying of household patriarch Malcolm Glazer eight years in the past. Not simply with the odd chant however each jiffy. Interspersed have been songs imagining and urging the dying of 1 his sons, Joel, who’s co-chairman of United.
The hatred wasn’t simply reserved for the house owners to stress them to promote up over the debt and underinvestment, as followers see it, within the squad and stadium.
The protest was hijacked by anti-Liverpool slurs, with a number of chants besmirching their followers over the Hillsborough catastrophe and the 97 deaths.
This was a snapshot of a predominately younger, alcohol-fuelled male crowd – vastly outnumbered by the followers inside Old Trafford.
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Those capable of see the motion witnessed the reversal of fortunes for the groups.
Liverpool outscored United 9-0 throughout their two video games final season below two completely different managers.
Now the third United supervisor in a yr – and the fifth everlasting one since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 – can have a good time a victory that eases the early stress.
It’s nonetheless solely three factors from a potential 9 for Erik Ten Hag at the beginning of his Premier League profession. But it leaves final season’s runners-up in a worse state – with solely two factors for 2020 champions Liverpool.
An evening of rage by Red Devils followers resulted in pleasure eventually. But many followers had a transparent message after the 2-1 win as they drifted out of Old Trafford. They have been celebrating with the gamers and definitely not the house owners.
The protests in opposition to the Glazers will persist. But they lack the main target the gamers lastly demonstrated to keep away from a 3rd successive defeat.
Source: information.sky.com”