In a stunning display of dominance, Liverpool crushed their archrivals Manchester United 7-0 at Anfield on Sunday. The victory was Liverpool’s biggest-ever margin of victory in the fixture and boosted their Premier League top-four hopes.
The match began with United looking marginally the better side for the first 43 minutes. However, Liverpool’s first attempt on target resulted in a superb finish from Cody Gakpo, giving the hosts the halftime lead.
Within five minutes of the restart, the game was effectively over as a contest. Darwin Nunez made it 2-0 with a header after some comical United defending, before a lightning Liverpool counterattack led by Mohamed Salah ended with Gakpo finishing in style for 3-0.
With United in disarray, Salah got in on the act with a clinical finish in the 66th minute. Nunez then sent a header past a helpless David De Gea in the 75th minute. Salah then scored a close-range effort to record his 129th Premier League goal for the club, before Roberto Firmino came off the bench to make it seven.
The result was a big surprise considering the reversal of fortunes for the two clubs since Liverpool’s 4-0 thrashing of United at Anfield last April. United’s sobering defeat left them in third place on 49 points and surely out of the title race as they are now 14 points behind leaders Arsenal.
Liverpool’s fourth win in five league matches lifted them above Newcastle United into fifth on 42 points, three points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur with a game in hand.
Sky Sports pundit and former United defender Gary Neville described the defeat as a “disgrace.” The result will undoubtedly be a bitter pill for United fans to swallow, especially coming just a week after their team claimed their first trophy since 2017 by winning the League Cup.
Liverpool, on the other hand, will be buoyed by their dominant performance and will look to build on this momentum as they push for a top-four finish. The win was a statement of intent from Jurgen Klopp’s side and will send shockwaves through the Premier League.
