Premier League: Merciless Liverpool crush meek Manchester United in Anfield humiliation
Mohamed Salah became Liverpool’s highest goalscorer in Premier League history as the relentless Reds subjected a pathetic Manchester United to a 7-0 humiliation at Anfield in the Premier League.
The Egyptian scored his 128th and 129th goals in the English top flight alongside a pair of braces for fellow attackers Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez – as well as an emotional effort for Roberto Firmino – as Erik ten Hag watched on with abject horror at his side’s capitulation.
Despite the hosts’ relentless start to the game, it was Alisson Becker who had to make the first meaningful save, getting down low to keep out Antony’s curling effort in the ninth minute – Liverpool comfortably dealt with the resulting corner.
A fired-up Liverpool continued to enjoy the lion’s share of the possession, albeit without truly testing David de Gea, who was surprisingly the less busy goalkeeper during the opening exchanges.
Only a few moments after an arm in Salah’s face from Lisandro Martinez went unpunished, Bruno Fernandes met Diogo Dalot’s cross at the back post with a diving header in the 26th minute, but the Portuguese’s effort flashed just wide of Alisson’s far post.
Two minutes later, the Brazilian had to be alert once again to keep out Marcus Rashford one-on-one, with a long ball from Luke Shaw opening up the Liverpool backline.
Failure to make their early dominance count nearly proved fatal for Liverpool, who conceded to a Casemiro header from Fernandes’s free kick in the 42nd minute, but the offside flag went up straight away.
Nevertheless, the tide had evidently turned in the Red Devils’ favour, but just one minute after Casemiro’s header was chalked off, the Merseyside giants were in the ascendancy.
A stunning pass from Andrew Robertson found the run of Gakpo – a long-time target of Man United’s – and the Dutchman cut inside before finding the far corner with a sweetly-struck effort from just inside the box.
Liverpool’s slender half time lead was no less than they deserved, but Man United were proving a threat time and time again in the final third, and Ten Hag saw no need to make any changes at half time.
However, Liverpool took under two minutes to double their lead following the restart, as Harvey Elliott’s fizzed cross found Nunez to head home from close range, but the Reds had a spate of horrendous defensive mishaps from the visitors to thank for their second.
From defence to attack in the blink of an eye, a free-flowing Liverpool had their third with 50 minutes on the clock, as Gakpo set Salah away down the right-hand side, and the Egyptian left Martinez on his backside before laying off Gakpo to deftly chip home from an acute angle.
Not for the first time this season, an Alisson howler nearly gifted Man United a route back into the game in the 54th minute, as the shot-stopper took a heavy touch and dived at the feet of Fernandes – who went over theatrically – but no penalty was given.
Only four minutes later, Ibrahima Konate spurned a brilliant chance to make it four for Liverpool – heading just wide from a corner – but Salah would need no second invitation to pile more misery on the out-of-sorts Red Devils.
As was the case with Gakpo’s second, a searing counter-attack from Liverpool ended with Nunez feeding Salah – with help from a deflection off Scott McTominay – and the 30-year-old rifled the Reds’ fourth in off the crossbar in the 66th minute.
In doing so, Salah equalled Robbie Fowler’s record of 128 Premier League goals for Liverpool, who witnessed Rashford hit the post from a tight angle in the 73rd minute – a tired attempt that summed up a disastrous outing for Man United.
In contrast, Jurgen Klopp’s side were not finished by any stretch of the imagination, and Nunez added a second for himself and a fifth for Liverpool in the 75th minute, rising highest to head home from Jordan Henderson’s cross.
Several members of the travelling crowd had had enough and began to filter out, but the ones that stayed witnessed a slice of Liverpool history, as Salah benefited from a ricochet to score his second in the 83rd minute and become Liverpool’s highest Premier League goalscorer of all time.
However, arguably the most emotional goal of the day would come in the 89th minute, as Firmino – who will depart the Reds at the end of the season – managed to squeeze the ball into the side of the net from a tight angle.
Firmino’s celebrations were briefly ruined by a fan running onto the pitch – Klopp had to be restrained from confronting the individual – but elation soon took over as Klopp’s men rose into the top five of the Premier League table and cut the gap to Tottenham Hotspur, who have played a game more, down to three points.
Liverpool return to the road to tackle Bournemouth next Saturday lunchtime, while Man United, who stay third, have four days to recover before hosting Real Betis in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 affair on Thursday.
