We have become accustomed to seeing slumped shoulders, heads bowed and no communication when Manchester United concede. At Anfield, it was different.

After Mohamed Salah made it 2-1, Bruno Fernandes collectively addressed his teammates and preached calm. He then held a constructive conflab with Diogo Dalot, aware of how gettable Trent Alexander-Arnold was. All 11 United players stuck their chests out. Harry Maguire vented at the referee again.

Ruben Amorim is often right and said afterwards United's performance boiled down to mentality. Their body language immediately after Salah converted his penalty was becoming of a United side.

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That defeatist air about them had gone when defeat seemed likely. Ten minutes later, United equalised. Then they strove to get a winner.

There were hands on hips and hands on heads at full-time. For United to be disappointed not to have won at Anfield is the desired mentality.

Matches have been postponed with tamer conditions outside. The snow, slush and ice made for a treacherous passage through Stanley Park. Liverpool had a match postponed on the blue side of the park last month and did not want another.

Perhaps they were convinced it was a question of how many they would win by. With roads gritted, United showed grit. It was comfortably their finest performance on Amorim's watch and their best at Anfield since March 2015.

Fernandes, ill-disciplined at Molineux on Boxing Day, was influential. Amorim's pre-match rhetoric about United "starving for leaders" elicited a reaction from his captain, Maguire and Lisandro Martinez, the three players who have worn the armband under the Portuguese.

Maguire has been outstanding at the Etihad and Anfield, grounds where United shipped eight goals during the centre half's annus horribilis in 2021-22. Amorim billed Maguire as "perfect" for a back three and his powers of persuasion have convinced the miser Sir Jim Ratcliffe to trigger the one-year extension in Maguire's deal.

Martinez was back to his old self. At his best, the Argentine is as much of an asset in attack as in defence and his front-footed defending made his goal possible. Martinez was well inside the Liverpool half when he read Alexander-Arnold's lazy pass.

In the first half, Matthijs de Ligt and Maguire took turns to send Luis Diaz to the turf with firm but fair tackles. On both occasions, they were on the front foot. That boldness compensated for the lack of speed in United's backline.

When athleticism was required, Leny Yoro executed a tackle on Darwin Nunez that will be replayed ad infinitum. Moments after that, Yoro dashed into the Liverpool area for a 97th-minute free kick, eager to add a winner to his contribution.

United's 5-4-1 set-up out of possession betrayed their intent. They took the game to Liverpool on their own patch for the first time in nearly a decade.

That is what set United's performance apart from their previous winless nine matches at Anfield. They were not content with a point. There were risks with their strategy in the final 17 minutes after Amad beat Andy Robertson to the ball.

Four forwards in red shirts were haring into the United half when Manuel Ugarte flukily hooked the ball past all of them to Fernandes. The risk was almost rewarded, only Maguire shinned the ball into the Anfield Road end.

One of the most pointless additions to football is the expected goal statistic. It is such tenuous gobbledygook that Erik ten Hag mentioned it during his final months managing United. Liverpool finished on 2.87 to United's 0.99. Work that one out. Actually, don't.

United scored twice and had the standout chance in each half. Anfield is a ground where United have looked condemned or cowed before kick-off in the recent past. Not on Sunday.

Midfield performances have been integral to United's successes at Anfield this century. Quinton Fortune in 2002, Keane in 2005, Owen Hargreaves and Anderson in 2007, Scholes in 2012, Ander Herrera in 2015. Manuel Ugarte is becoming a more authoritative regular in Amorim's side with every week.

"I don’t want to talk about just Ugarte," Amorim said. "He’s the only guy I know really really well. Everybody, even in the bench. Today they faced the competition in a different way. It’s so simple but so difficult to explain here so it’s so clear for everybody."

Ugarte was a worthy contender for the man of the match award that Fernandes received. The Uruguayan was billed as the much-needed No.6 recruit but staff at United feel he is starting to demonstrate the silk he has to supplement the steel.

In his first season at United, Ten Hag oversaw a Latino rebranding with Dalot, Martinez, Fernandes, Casemiro and the Spanish-speaking Raphael Varane. Some at United believe Varane has been missed and at times Martinez has appeared to be pining for him in a campaign he has often looked forlorn.

Amorim could be developing his own Latino core. Kobbie Mainoo, back to his best, has started Spanish lessons due to his friendship with Alejandro Garnacho and Amad. Ugarte is the clear heir to Casemiro while Dalot and Fernandes remain mainstays.

Fernandes can err with his whinging and barracking of teammates and he gave Amad an earful in the early knockings on Sunday. He adjusted his leadership after Cody Gakpo prodded narrowly wide, providing De Ligt with a pointer. After Alexis Mac Allister evaded Mainoo, United were so compact Liverpool looked stumped save for De Ligt's self-destructive 11 minutes in the second half.

Even Fernandes reacted reasonably well to that.