liverpool Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah all brought the Manchester United bandwagon to a screeching halt in a 7-0 thrashing of their arch-rivals to reinvigorate Premier League top-four hopes at Anfield on Sunday.
A week after a resurgent United claimed their first trophy since 2017 by winning the League Cup and title push talk flew either side of halftime as Liverpool recorded their biggest-ever margin of victory in a fixture .
Third-placed United looked a marginally better side for 43 minutes but it turned into an Anfield horror show for Erik ten Haag’s side as they suffered the club’s worst defeat since a 7–0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1931. Had to face a bad defeat.
Gakpo’s superb finish to Liverpool’s first attempt on goal gave the hosts a half-time lead.
Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez scores his second goal after going past David de Gea of Manchester United Photo Credit: Reuters
Within five minutes of the restart it had ended as a contest with Núñez making it 2–0 with a header after some comical United defending before an electric Liverpool counter-attack led by Salah. , which ended with Gakpo finishing in style for the 3–0.
Cody Gakpo of Liverpool beats Manchester United’s David de Gea to score his third goal Photo Credit: Reuters
Mohamed Salah of Liverpool scored his fourth goal. photo credit: Reuters
With United in disarray and losing their heads, Salah swung into action in the 66th minute to rifle in his side’s fourth and Núñez sent a header past helpless goalkeeper David de Gea in the 75th minute. But there was much more to come.
Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez scores his fifth goal to beat Manchester United’s David de Gea Photo Credit: Reuters
Salah added salt to United’s wounds with a close-range effort to score a record 129th Premier League goal for the club, taking him past Robbie Fowler.
Mohamed Salah of Liverpool celebrates scoring his sixth goal with teammates. , photo credit: Reuters
Roberto Firmino then came off the bench to send Juergen Klopp’s men over the edge, although by that time most of United’s army of followers had already headed for the exits.
Roberto Firmino of Liverpool beats David de Gea of Manchester United to score his seventh goal Photo Credit: Reuters
luck is changing
File photo of Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah scoring a goal against Man United in April 2022. , photo credit: Reuters
Liverpool had beaten United 4–0 at Anfield the previous April, but the result was a huge surprise given the reversal of fortunes for both clubs since that day.
United’s heavy defeat was described as a ‘humiliation’ by Sky Sports pundit and his former defender Gary Neville, leaving them in third place with 49 points and virtually out of the title race. They are 14 points clear of leaders Arsenal, who have played a game more.
Liverpool’s fourth win in five league games saw them move clear of Newcastle United on 42 points in fifth place, three points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur.
“It was a great day for everyone,” Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson told Sky Sports. “The performance level of every single player today was top quality, which is something we’ve definitely been missing for a while.
“Today you could see the energy level and everything was back, although the last few Premier League games showed we are on the right track.”
Liverpool’s previous biggest win over United was a 7–1 victory in 1895 when both clubs were in the Second Division.