Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah took the headlines on a sensational evening at Anfield that saw Liverpool check their biggest rivals.
Liverpool recorded their biggest-ever win against Manchester United with a 7-0 humiliation of their traditional rivals at Anfield.
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Goals from Darwin Nunez (2), Cody Gakpo (2), Mohamed Salah (2) and Roberto Firmino took Liverpool to win three points of the top four, but they also put an end to suggestions that third-place United could yet win the Premier League. The defeat means United have now scored just once on their last seven visits to Liverpool and haven’t won at Anfield since a Wayne Rooney winner in January, 2016.
Sunday’s game at Anfield turned out to be must-see TV, with the Reds’ remarkable 7-0 victory putting Jurgen Klopp’s team firmly on course for Champions League qualification.
A week after ending their six-year trophy drought by winning the Carabao Cup — a success which prompted talk of a quadruple this season — United were humiliated by their biggest rivals at Anfield. Two goals apiece from Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah, plus a late goal from Roberto Firmino, lifted Klopp’s team to fifth position, three points behind Tottenham but with a game in hand, and cemented Liverpool’s status as favourites to finish fourth.
The irony for United was that they had controlled much of the first-half and wasted good chances before Gakpo put Liverpool ahead in the 43rd minute. From that point on, United collapsed — it was 3-0 by the 50th minute — and they ended up suffering an even bigger defeat than their woeful results against Liverpool last season, when they lost 5-0 and 4-0.
United have now scored just once in their last seven games at Anfield and haven’t won away to Liverpool since 2016. This was supposed to be the day when they faced their old rivals on a level footing for the first time in years, but it ended as the same old story. By the end of the game, Liverpool’s fans were chanting «we want eight» to hammer home the magnitude of their dominance.
While the defeat will not impact on United’s league position of third place, the result is huge for Liverpool. Having looked like missing out on the top four, they are now chasing Tottenham down and seemingly set to climb above Antonio Conte’s team.
Erik ten Hag has rightly won plaudits this season for transforming Manchester United with his tactical awareness and decision-making from the touchline, but he made a costly tactical mistake at Anfield. By starting with Marcus Rashford as a lone striker, Bruno Fernandes wide on the left and Wout Weghorst as a No.10, the United manager let Liverpool off the hook, particularly by allowing Trent Alexander-Arnold’s defensive weaknesses to go untested.
Fernandes is a natural No.10 and the Portugal international is best when given that role to create chances for those further ahead of him. But he lacks the pace to play out wide, and his presence in that position meant Alexander-Arnold had one of his easiest games of the season. Had Rashford played out wide, it would have forced Alexander-Arnold to deal with somebody running at him and the spaces that he often leaves behind him.
Read all the latest news and reaction from ESPN FC senior writer Mark Ogden.
As for Weghorst, the Netherlands forward has played the position before, but by using the on-loan Burnley striker in that position, Ten Hag took Fernandes away from where he could be most impactful.
