United boss rankled by lackluster play

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho called on his players to step up their pace and stop squandering scoring chances after they needed an 84th-minute equalizer from Zlatan Ibrahimovic to rescue a 1-1 draw against Liverpool on Sunday.

Paul Pogba blew an early one-on-one opportunity, and then his handball allowed James Milner to put Liverpool ahead with a penalty.

Only seven of United's 32 Premier League goals this season have been scored in the first 35 minutes and Mourinho wants his team to stop letting its opponents off the hook.

"We have had this problem for the whole season," he said at Old Trafford.

"We start matches normally very, very well but we don't score many goals in the first half. Normally the first big occasion, the goalkeeper makes a phenomenal save.

"Every goalkeeper that comes here plays fantastic. That save (by Liverpool's Simon Mignolet) on Zlatan's free kick was an amazing save.

"And then Paul is in the face of the keeper and missed the target. We always have chances to be in front, and it costs us not to score goals."

Pogba, the world's most expensive player, produced an error-strewn display and it was his needless handball that enabled Milner to open the scoring with a 27th-minute penalty.

Ibrahimovic salvaged the tie when he dived to guide a header over Simon Mignolet from Antonio Valencia's cross. With 14 goals, he is now tied for the Premier League's scoring lead.

United, which had won its previous nine matches in all competitions, remains sixth, four points off the top four, while Liverpool trails leader Chelsea by seven points in third place.

Mourinho said Liverpool had come to defend and likened its performance to the ultra-defensive display produced by his side in October's scoreless draw at Anfield.

Heated exchange

Meanwhile, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who felt his team had been "the better side", was upset that Roberto Firmino was booked for his role in a stoppage-time altercation with Ander Herrera.

Firmino shoved Herrera to the ground after the Spaniard grabbed him by the shirt, yielding a pair of yellow cards and a heated exchange between Mourinho and Klopp on the touchline.

"Roberto is a footballer from head to toe and he wants to stay in the game," Klopp said. "That's a yellow card for Herrera and nothing else. In the end it's a yellow card for the guy who wants to play football."

Klopp also implied United captain Wayne Rooney, a halftime replacement for Michael Carrick, was fortunate to avoid punishment for an ugly foul on Milner.

"If you are surprised, do me a favor and write it," he told reporters.

"If it's an ugly challenge, write it. Don't make it a story of it just because I say it."

Liverpool remains winless after four games in 2017, but Klopp pointed to selection problems as a mitigating factor.

An abdominal injury to Nathaniel Clyne saw 18-year-old Trent Alexander-Arnold make his full league debut at rightback, while Philippe Coutinho was only fit enough for the bench.

Sadio Mane is away at the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal and Liverpool announced before the game that Joel Matip is awaiting FIFA clearance after refusing to play in the tournament for Cameroon.

"In this moment for us maybe it's a little bit more difficult to play our best because not everybody's available," said Klopp. "But we're still there and everybody can see we fight for it 100 percent.

"There will be a moment when we are the better side and everybody's back and in shape, healthy, fit. Then we'll see how the base is."