Harry Maguire's late header secured Manchester United’s first win at Anfield in almost a decade and gave head coach Ruben Amorim back-to-back league victories for the first time in his tenure.
The visitors looked to have been denied by Cody Gakpo’s 78th-minute equaliser, but centre-back Maguire became the latest player to expose Liverpool’s weakness at set-pieces with a powerful header.
United had ridden their luck after Bryan Mbeumo scored the quickest Premier League goal – after 62 seconds – on this ground between the two sides, with Gakpo hitting the frame of the goal three times, but his most glaring miss came with three minutes to go when he planted a close-range header wide of an open goal.
While United, now only two points behind their arch-rivals, and Amorim will feel they have turned a corner with possibly the standout result of his reign so far, Arne Slot is left to consider what has gone wrong with his misfiring side.
Liverpool lost a fourth successive match for the first time since November 2014 and a first home league game for 400 days.
