Jadon Sancho, Manchester United
Manchester United's English striker Jadon Sancho (C) evades a tackle from Liverpool's English midfielder James Milner (R) in the build-up to scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on August 22, 2022. PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images

KEY POINTS

  • Jadon Sancho's opening goal opened up Manchester United's good fortune
  • Manchester United caught Liverpool by surprise
  • Sancho credits the team's success to their togetherness

The new English Premier League season has not been entirely kind to Manchester United after stumbling in their first two matches, but the Red Devils bounced back in a big way with a major victory over Liverpool.

Last summer's big acquisition in Jadon Sancho was the main star of the match as he propelled his side to a 2-1 victory, scoring the opening goal at the 16th minute as Old Trafford went wild.

He would be joined by Marcus Rashford at the 53rd minute thanks to a counter-attack that caught the Liverpool defense off guard.

For the first time this season, it looked like new manager Erik Ten Hag's philosophies have started to rub on his wards and Sancho is all for it.

"Coming from last week's performance, we knew today we had to show desire and belief. I'm so glad that we got the three points today. Yeah, [good transitions] for sure, we've been working on that a lot this past week in training," Sancho told MUTV.

The moments leading up to Sancho's goal were a thing of beauty as he faked a shot first to get James Milner to slide-block, which opened up the window of opportunity for him at the penalty spot before slotting the ball to the bottom left corner.

Ten Hag opted to bench Cristiano Ronaldo and team captain Harry Maguire in favor of youngsters Anthony Elanga and Tyrell Malacia, a move that brought a ton of counter-attacking opportunities for them.

Elanga had an opportunity to strike first in the 10th minute against Liverpool after receiving a pass from Bruno Fernandes, but it just went wide because of the pressure from Liverpool keeper Alisson.

New addition Christian Eriksen also had his own chance to score via a free kick, but it went wide as well.

Mohamed Salah scored Liverpool's only goal in the 81st minute as Manchester United's defense hung around to prevent them from scoring an equalizer.

Former Ajax center-back Lisandro Martinez was voted man of the match by the fans after anchoring the backline from Salah and the Liverpool offense, stifling them with blocked shots and being an overall pest on defense.

The win gave ten Hag both first-ever win in the Premier League and at Old Trafford as fans hope their disastrous showings against Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford were just an adjustment period.

Focusing on Sancho and Rashford as the focal point of the Manchester United attack appears to be ren Hag's main strategy moving forward, and it could very well bring out the best of them as a whole.

"We can produce these types of performances, but it's all about keeping this momentum and carrying on," Sancho later added.

The Red Devils take to the field again on Saturday, August 27 against Southampton with the hope of stringing together a couple of wins before taking on league-leading Arsenal on September 4.

Erik Ten Hag, Jurgen Klopp
Erik ten Hag, Manager of Manchester United shakes hands with Juergen Klopp, Manager of Liverpool following the Premier League match between Manchester United and Liverpool FC at Old Trafford on August 22, 2022 in Manchester, England. Clive Brunskill/Getty Images