Ole Gunnar Solskjaer claimed Manchester United were forced to play with "10-and-half men" after Liverpool’s roughhouse treatment of Marcus Rashford.
The England striker suffered an ankle injury after Jordan Henderson went through the back of him early on. But first half injuries to Ander Herrera, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard meant Rashford was forced to limp on.
He is now likely to miss Wednesday’s trip to Crystal Palace, with Solskjaer just stopping short of accusing Liverpool of deliberately targeting the 21-year-old.
“Rashy was kicked, did his ankle straight away and we should have taken him off as well,” said the United interim manager. “We played with 10-and-a-half men, but the fans made up for it and Rashy’s attitude did as well.
“You can’t say ‘targeted,’ but there were quite a few fouls on him and normally you’d take him off after five minutes.
“His ankle blew up and he wanted to run it off. Juan and Ander came off, so hope he’s not damaged himself too much.
“I’ve not seen him after the game. If he plays (on Wednesday) I’ll be maybe surprised.”
United are facing up to an injury crisis, with Nemanja Matic sustaining a groin injury in training that could keep him out for up to a month.
Herrera, Lingard and Mata will be assessed after suffering hamstring injuries, while Anthony Martial was ruled out with a groin strain.
“I never thought Juan would get a hamstring injury,” said Solskjaer. “But the physical work they’ve done, Ander has played every single minute and I might want to play to a different way than before.
“You can see all the stats - maybe that’s taken its toll, but we’ve got players to come in.”
