By Matt Hardy
The Kop descended into hysteria yesterday evening as Liverpool inflicted a record loss on big rivals Manchester United in the Premier League.
The 7-0 drubbing at Anfield saw Mohamed Salah net a brace and score his 128th and 129th Premier League goals for the Reds which took him beyond Robbie Fowler’s Liverpool record.
Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez, too, netted braces while Roberto Firmino scored Liverpool’s seventh to seal a humiliating defeat for Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United just a week after the manager toasted a new era for the club following their Carabao Cup win.
Seventh heaven for Liverpool
The result is Liverpool’s biggest competitive win over United since the Reds beat their rivals 7-1 in 1895.
The defeat is the joint-heaviest in competitive football for the Red Devils and leaves them vulnerable to sides below them chasing the top four.
The result puts Liverpool right in the race for the Champions League spots – the Reds sit fifth on 42 points, just three behind Tottenham Hotspur in fourth.
An electric Anfield got louder and louder – and almost fell into a state of disbelief – as one goal became two and two became three, four, five, six and seven.
Liverpool took the lead before the break when a through ball found Gakpo. The winger timed his run beautifully and found the far corner.
A clinical Liverpool doubled their lead when Nunez powered the ball home from close range and it became three when Gakpo got on the end of a Salah cross to finish from a tight angle.
The Egyptian matched Fowler’s record after a deflected ball was fired home by the forward.
Nunez completed his brace with a header from inside the box before Salah scored his record goal – and his 12th against United – when he fired in from close range. “It’s very special. I cannot lie. To get it today against Manchester United is unbelievable,” Salah said.
Firmino, who is leaving Liverpool in the summer, joined the party with a no-look finish to embarrass United on what will go down as an evening for the ages.
What they said
“I think we played a decent first half,” Ten Hag said. “Second half it was just not us. It was not our standards. We didn’t play as a team. It was unprofessional. Yes [I am angry]. Definitely.
“We didn’t track back and it was really unprofessional. This is definitely a strong setback and is unacceptable. I’m really disappointed and angry about it.”
“No words. Spectacular football game. Outstanding. We played top football against the team in form,” Jurgen Klopp said.
“It was all top performances today. That is very important for us – 13 games to come? A lot of points to go for. Tonight it was perfect.”
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