Sir Alex Ferguson stood in the Main Stand at Anfield at half time, wearing a broad smile. The former Manchester United manager has not had much to celebrate at the home of his old enemy for the last ten years but now, with his old team a goal up and looking good, he held a bag of chocolates in his hand and offered one to the gentleman next to him, who happened to be Sir Kenny Dalglish.

As an image of the what happened here on a blustery, squally afternoon by the banks of the River Mersey, a symbol of how United found an echo of their former glories and transformed their miserable fortunes by winning at this ground for the first time in nearly a decade, it took some beating.

Then again, the sight of Harry Maguire, a yeoman centre half who seems to have been written off, mocked and derided for his limitations since the day he arrived at Old Trafford, rising to score United's late winner and seal a 2-1 victory that condemned Liverpool to their fourth successive defeat ran it close.

This was a match, after all, that had been pitched as a prelude to the sacking of Ruben Amorim. A 3-1 defeat to Liverpool in December 2018 had been the final straw for the United board before they sacked Amorim's countryman, Jose Mourinho, two days later. Erik ten Hag never really recovered from the 7-0 beating United took at Anfield in March 2023.

And even if Sir Jim Ratcliffe, United's minority owner, had promised Amorim three more years come what may, no one really believed that. Not even Amorim. He knew how much he was under pressure. He knew that defeat here might seal his fate.

But defeat never came. Instead, United preyed on Liverpool's startling new vulnerabilities and eked out a deserved victory that may yet come to be seen as a turning point in Amorim's fortunes. They seemed to be going nowhere fast but this was the most coherent performance they have produced for some time, a performance of guile as well as grit.

Bryan Mbeumo gave Man United the lead in 62 - the quickest in the Premier League this season

Cody Gakpo drew the scores level in the 78th minute after seizing on a loose ball in the area

They still have a long, long way to go before they can they are on the road back but this was their first win here since Wayne Rooney scored the winner for United in January 2016 and this act of closure on a decade of despair will give them a huge boost in morale.

For Liverpool, their season is starting to look like one battle after another. The time when it felt as if they were champions elect a few matches into the season, strengthening an already strong team, feels like an age ago now. Arsenal fans were cheering this result and acclaiming Liverpool's uncertainty.

The issues are everywhere: Giorgi Mamardashvili does not have the presence of Alisson in goal, Milos Kerkez is struggling to establish a relationship with Virgil van Dijk on the left of Liverpool's defence, the sublime passing skills of Trent Alexander-Arnold are badly missed on the right.

Mohammed Salah has lost his mojo and appears to have been unsettled by the arrival of Alexander Isak, and, even if it is obvious Florian Wirtz is a sublime footballer, he still looks like a little boy lost in midfield, bewildered by the pace and the physicality of the English game.

United took the lead with their first attack. It was a controversial goal. In the build-up, Mbeumo jumped with Alexis Mac Allister and Van Dijk to contest a high ball. Van Dijk inadvertently caught Mac Allister with an elbow and Mac Allister lay on the turf, clutching his head.

Many in the crowd - and on the Liverpool bench - expected the game to be stopped for a head injury but play was waved on. Amad Diallo threaded a pass through to Mbeumo and Mbeumo beat Mamardashvili at close range. The goalkeeper ought to have done better. There were only 65 seconds on the clock.

Mac Allister was treated as United celebrated in front of the Kop and eventually resumed, wearing a protective black scrum-cap. Liverpool worked to force their way back into the game but the crowd was tense and tetchy, still struggling to comprehend how the champions have grown so brittle.

The visitors saw their lead restored through Harry Maguire just six minutes later

Still, Liverpool nearly equalised with a brilliant move midway through the half. Mo Salah took the ball in his own half, turned away from his man and drilled a perfect pass into the path of Cody Gakpo.

Gakpo's first touch was brilliant, too. It took him inside Matthijs de Ligt and Gakpo curled his shot first time around Senne Lammens. Liverpool's fans waited for the net to bulge but the ball cannoned off the face of the post and away to safety.

United, though, should have extended their lead soon after. Diallo did well to get to the goalline and cut the ball back into the path of Bruno Fernandes. The goal gaped. It felt as if the game was there for United to win. But Fernandes drove his shot against the outside of the post. It was a golden opportunity missed.

Liverpool hit the woodwork again when Fernandes tried to block Gakpo's cross and the ball looped up over Lammens and came back off the inside of the post. Two minutes later, Alexander Isak ran in behind Luke Shaw but hit his shot too close to Lammens, who saved well with his right boot.

Four minutes after the interval, Liverpool began to feel as if they were cursed. When Gakpo hit the woodwork for the third time, with a crashing shot that beat Lammens but bounced off the upright, It felt as though Glenn Hoddle's old spiritual adviser, Eileen Drewery, had thrown up one of her famous force fields around the United goal.

It was still working midway through the second half when substitute Florian Wirtz played the ball wide to Milos Kerkez and Kerkez's cross found Salah in space at the back post. Salah's first touch was poor and as the ball bounced, he snatched at his shot as Lammens rushed out to meet him and the ball flew into the Kop.

Salah's uncertainty in front of goal is the most powerful symbol of Liverpool's fall from grace. Some are already blaming the march of time but it is a more cogent explanation that Salah has been unsettled by the change in his forward partners. He has not yet established even a hint of chemistry with Isak or Hugo Ekitike.

Salah's uncertainty in front of goal is the most powerful symbol of Liverpool's fall from grace

But when all this threatened to overwhelm Liverpool, they finally drew level in the 78th minute. There were 12 minutes left when Wirtz played a simple pass to Enrico Chiesa on the left side of the box, Chiesa slammed a shot across the face of goal and Gakpo prodded it over the line.

The scores only stayed level for six minutes. Liverpool's celebrations had barely subsided and they were going for the win when a shot from Mbeumo rebounded to Fernandes. Fernandes volleyed a cross into the box and Harry Maguire rose highest to nod his header across Mamardashvili and into the corner.

There was time for more drama. Jeremie Frimpong burst free down the right and lifted a perfect cross into the box where Gakpo was waiting six yards out with an open goal. Gakpo rose to apply the finishing touch but, to the astonishment of the home supporters, glanced the ball wide.

Ruben Amorim avoids looming axe with his best performance yet