Jonny Evans defends Man United's tactics for 'grinding out' a draw during goalless stalemate at Liverpool - as he praises Red Devils for 'defending our box well' after recent poor results

Jonny Evans has defended Manchester United’s tactics in the goalless draw against Liverpool on Sunday, saying that even the club’s greatest teams had to ‘grind out’ results at Anfield.

Liverpool were frustrated by United’s defensive approach as they failed to score for the first time in 35 games despite having 34 shots on goal.

Manager Jurgen Klopp said the encounter was even more one-sided than Liverpool’s 7-0 win in the corresponding fixture last season, and captain Virgil van Dijk claimed that United were ‘buzzing’ to simply get a draw.

But Evans, who turns 36 next month, is a veteran of these games and believes that Sunday’s stalemate wasn’t as out of character for United as Liverpool believe.

The Northern Irishman pointed to United’s 2-1 win at Anfield in the 2012-13 season when Sir Alex Ferguson’s side needed a late Robin van Persie penalty to beat their old rivals en route to winning the title.

‘I've played games here where you have to grind it out,’ said the Northern Irishman, now in his second spell at Old Trafford.

‘You don't always come to Anfield and play well. I've been a part of this club in the past. Even back then, in 2013, we got a win here but the game was very difficult. You have to grind it out. It's a battle, really. It is a game of moments – big moments in the game. We'll come away, take the point, and move on.

‘We are seventh in the league at the moment, but we were eighth going into the match. Liverpool were top. It was a hard-fought point. They dominated the game in terms of being around our box but we probably had two of the best chances.

‘It is their home patch. They've got a good record here and they are playing well. They are at the top of the league, they've got some dangerous players. We'll take the point. We defended our box well and move on from it.’

Evans said that the United players didn’t pay any attention to their seven-goal drubbing at Anfield in March, and was reluctant to read too much into a goalless draw on their return.

‘I think you block it out by not listening to that,’ he added. ‘I think we have our own responsibilities going into the game and every game is a chance to win. We always go into every game thinking we are going to win.

‘I think you can take this game in isolation. Man United vs Liverpool is a big match. In the last three or four weeks when we have had to defend our box, we haven't done that well enough. It is something we have discussed, so we take that out of it today. Take confidence from it.’