Man Utd beat Liverpool in thrilling fashion but football's fiercest rivalry has gone soft

Six years ago, Manchester United and Liverpool played out a Premier League draw at Old Trafford, Adam Lallana’s late goal cancelling out a first-half opener from Marcus Rashford. And Roy Keane was furious.

He was furious before the match had even started because he had watched live footage of the two sets of players being convivial in the tunnel. They were embracing each other.

“I’m disgusted,” he said. “You’re going to war … (and) they are hugging and kissing. Don’t even look at the opposition. You’re going into battle with them. Chat to them after the game - or don’t even chat to them after the game.”

In the contest that followed, referee Martin Atkinson produced his yellow card only once, sanctioning Fabinho for a cynical foul on Dan James. Presumably to Keane’s chagrin, there was certainly no war.

And, in this fixture, there have been few wars since. For the first time in some considerable time, I was not at the latest instalment of the Liverpool-Manchester United rivalry, often billed as, arguably, the fiercest in sport. Occasionally, through the TV, it sounded as though there was a feisty atmosphere in the stadium, but on the field, it was hardly fierce.

Remember the days when some Liverpool and United players looked like they might get booked in the warm-up? Remember when Steven Gerrard was sent off 38 seconds after coming on as a half-time substitute for stamping on Ander Herrera?

There has been the odd nasty moment since the pre-match love-in that sent Keane into meltdown - VAR upgraded Paul Pogba’s two-footer on Naby Keita in October, 2021, to a straight red - but not many. Fierce? In terms of the tempo of the game, maybe.

Fierce? When referring to the supporters, definitely. But in physicality and enmity on the pitch? Hardly.

Not a single Liverpool player was booked in Sunday’s 2-1 defeat. In fact, over the past 11 Premier League meetings between these two teams, Liverpool have collected only 13 yellow cards.

Of course, discipline has been a big part of Liverpool’s superiority over United in recent times, the latter averaging over three yellows a game in those 11 meetings, with Pogba and Diogo Dalot (two yellows) seeing red. (Amad Diallo got a second yellow for taking off his shirt to celebrate a late FA Cup winner a couple of seasons ago).

But watching remotely at the weekend, it was striking to see how little needle there appeared to be. And this is a trend that is not just confined to Liverpool and United’s rivalry.

For a spell, the mutual disrespect between Liverpool and Manchester City supporters seemed quite intense. And the teams have produced some memorable contests in recent times.

But aggro on the pitch? In their last six Premier League meetings, there have been a total of 16 yellow cards. They often look like pals, which, as it happens, a lot of them are. Mates and neighbours.

That might have something to do with the relatively good spirit in which the Liverpool-United and Liverpool-City games seem to be played nowadays. But a more significant reason is surely that VAR has become established and anyone thinking of a challenge that could be bookable knows there could be more serious consequences.

With VAR, a yellow can become red with a few looks at a TV monitor. And yes, that’s a good thing. No-one wants to see tackles that endanger an opponent’s safety.

Yes, that’s a good thing. Everyone likes to see a match being played in a good spirit. But it’s still hard not to think one of the fiercest rivalries in football has gone a little bit tame.

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