Andrew Robertson’s happiness at returning to the top of the Premier League was tinged by frustration after Liverpool failed to capitalise on Manchester United’s injury issues.
Old Trafford bore witness to a tense, interesting but ultimately goalless encounter on Sunday afternoon.
The point was enough to put Liverpool above Manchester City and the title back in their hands, but the true value of the 0-0 draw will not be clear until the season is over.
Sunday was a superb opportunity for Jurgen Klopp’s men to seal a memorable win at bitter rivals United after their three first-half injuries, but the visitors failed to show their teeth in a subdued display.
“I thought we started really well, and we had the momentum,” full-back Robertson said. “We were driving forward, but we just didn’t create great chances.
“We had one or two, but we could have had a lot more and then the second half was disappointing for both teams, with not really many chances created and a lot of sloppy passes.
“We kept going right until the end. In the last five to 10 minutes we were the side trying to win it and trying to get the three points – but a point at Old Trafford is never a bad result.
“It could have been more, and we are not hiding away from that, but we got a point and go back top of the Premier League.
“We came for a win, of course we did, but we definitely didn’t want to get beat and we wanted to take something away, and we have managed that.”
There was certainly an air of disappointment around the Liverpool players, with manager Klopp even saying it did not really feel like a point gained.
Robertson believes the glut of first-half injuries impacted their momentum, with Roberto Firmino also forced off in a period disrupted by United’s three enforced changes.
“Four substitutions in the first half is unheard of in a game like that and the ones that went off were struggling,” said the Scotland captain, who will have an arm injury assessed on Monday.
“We need to deal with that better because the game still was on and when the game stopped it kind of killed our momentum and we had to go again.
“We should have been at full throttle after all the pauses in the game. We need to work on that.”
Robertson was understandably keen to focus on the positive aspects, though, especially given United’s approach on Sunday was a similar sign of respect to the one showed by Bayern Munich in last week’s goalless Champions League draw.
“It’s a sign of respect but as a team I think we need to start respecting ourselves,” Robertson told the club’s official website.
“Big teams like Bayern and Manchester United are full of world-class stars and they changed their way of playing to try to stop us.
“We need to take that as a mark of respect and not shy away from it, stand up to that and show them why there is respect.
“Maybe we’ve been a bit guilty of that, even more so in midweek. I think we played better than in midweek.
“These big teams are showing us respect but maybe we need to start respecting ourselves.”
