LIVERPOOL (Reuters) - Liverpool brought Manchester United’s bandwagon to a shuddering halt as Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah all scored twice in a record 7-0 hammering of their arch-rivals to boost their Premier League top-four hopes at Anfield on Sunday.
A week after a resurgent United claimed their first trophy since 2017 by winning the League Cup and amid talk of a late title push they were blown away either side of halftime as Liverpool recorded their biggest ever victory in the fixture.
Third-placed United had looked marginally the better side for 43 minutes but it turned into an Anfield horror show for Erik ten Hag’s side as they suffered the club’s worst defeat since a 7-0 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1931.
Gakpo’s superb finish from Liverpool’s first attempt on target gave the hosts the halftime lead.
Within five minutes of the restart it was over as a contest with Nunez’s header making it 2-0 after some comical defending allowed Harvey Elliott to cross and a lightning counter-attack led by Salah ended with Gakpo finishing in style for 3-0.
Third-placed United had looked marginally the better side for 43 minutes but it turned into an Anfield horror show for Erik ten Hag’s side as they suffered the club’s worst defeat since a 7-0 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1931.
Gakpo’s superb finish from Liverpool’s first attempt on target gave the hosts the halftime lead.
Within five minutes of the restart it was over as a contest with Nunez’s header making it 2-0 after some comical defending allowed Harvey Elliott to cross and a lightning counter-attack led by Salah ended with Gakpo finishing in style for 3-0.
Roberto Firmino then came off the bench to send Juergen Klopp’s side into seventh heaven with an angled shot after more good work by Egyptian Salah, although by that stage most of United’s army of followers had headed for the exits.
It was the first time since 1999 that three players had scored two goals for the same club in the Premier League - the last time being when Andy Cole, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Dwight Yorke all scored twice for United against Nottingham Forest.
Liverpool had thrashed United 4-0 at Anfield last April but considering the reversal of fortunes for the two clubs since, with United on the rise and Liverpool off the pace, this result was a major surprise.