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Sunday’s 7-0 Liverpool route against Manchester United was full of record-breaking moments.
All the superstars for Liverpool were shining bright on Sunday, as Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah had braces (the first Premier league trio to secure braces in the 21st century) while Roberto Firmino closed with the seventh. They scored seven of their eight shots on target.
The Red Devils arrived at Anfield having won the Carabao Cup and in exceptional form, but its recent record at Liverpool’s home returned to haunt them.
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Simply Incredible
United started the first half in great shape, getting the better half of the chances and arguably the better team. But that all changed when Gakpo hit the back of the net in the 43rd minute.
Liverpool came out for the second half looking to cause havoc, completely dissecting every player that United had on the field. Nunez came to play coming back from the break, scoring a header in the 47th minute from a Harvey Elliot cross. It took Gakpo only three minutes to get his brace and Liverpool’s third after Salah completely embarrassed Lisandro Martinez near the box to grab the assist.
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The Egyptian made it 4-0 in the 66th minute, followed by another Nunez header in the 75th to complete his brace. A simple tap-in in the 83rd minute saw Salah grab the sixth and his brace.
Firmino came on in the 79th minute, after he revealed that he will not continue with the club after the season, and scored the seventh goal to seal Liverpool’s largest win over the Red Devils (previously 7-1 in 1895) and hand United its worst Premier League era defeat.
“A really top performance from the start,” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said in the post-match press conference. “I thought the way we started the game was really special, the best for a long, long, long, long, long, long time. We were there, we were aggressive, but we played football.”
Some will wonder if this is a sign of what’s to come when Liverpool returns to Champions League action, hoping to surmount the 5-2 mountain created by Real Madrid.
The Egyptian King
Although the 7-0 win was historic for Liverpool, Salah cemented his legacy as one of best to ever wear Liverpool red.
The Egyptian can sit on the throne wearing his crown after becoming Liverpool’s all-time top goal scorer with 129, surpassing Robbie Fowler’s 128.
He did it in 61 fewer matches.
He became the first player in Liverpool history to score in six consecutive games against the Red Devils. Salah has also scored 10 goals in 11 matches against United, tied with the late Alan Shearer, who scored the same amount in 25 games.
“An extraordinary day for all Liverpool fans,” Salah said on his Twitter. “I’m honoured to keep making history with this great club!”
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United Suffer at Anfield
The Red Devils also broke records during its embarrassing performance, but not the records one may want to break.
Recent history tells a story of a United team that only managed to score one goal compared to Liverpool’s 18 in its last eight meetings at Anfield. United received six second half goals to set a new, unwanted record for them for the most goals conceded in one half. David De Gea had a rough day protecting his net, conceding seven goals for the first time in his career.
Erik Ten Hag also suffered his heaviest defeat as a manager, solidifying the horrible evening.
“The second half is unprofessional,” he said in a post-match interview. “I know my players, they can bounce back and they will do [that].”
United hope to keep this as a distant memory as they look to prepare for a tough Europa League matchup against Real Betis on Thursday.
