Liverpool rolled over their old rivals 7-0 at Anfield, with Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez, and Mohamed Salah all scoring twice to end Manchester United’s faint Premier League title aspirations.
In his first game in this legendary derby, the 23-year-old Gakpo, a January signing from PSV, scored two beautiful goals, and Nunez and Salah added to the humiliation.
Salah broke the scoring mark for Liverpool in the Premier League, and substitute Roberto Firmino also contributed on a day of vindication for manager Jurgen Klopp.
Gakpo and Nunez are important to the future of the team in the eyes of Liverpool’s German manager, and they along with Salah made it a memorable day for the hosts against a shaky United defense. With this victory, Liverpool moves ahead of Newcastle United and into fifth position.
After lifting the EFL Cup at Wembley seven days prior, Erik ten Hag’s Red Devils were pitiful.
They stay third in the standings and are seven points ahead of Liverpool, but they are 14 points behind leaders Arsenal and have just 13 games left.
Getting past this will also require some effort.
Liverpool had most of the early possession, but the key chances in the opening half-hour were created by United, with Antony having the first when his low shot towards the left corner was pushed wide by Alisson.
United’s full-backs then teed up big chances for Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford. Fernandes flashed a header across goal and wide of the right post from Dalot’s far-post cross, before Luke Shaw’s delivery from the left found Rashford, whose first-time shot was weak.
Casemiro had the ball in the Liverpool net in the 42nd minute but had strayed offside, and the breakthrough came at the other end a minute later. Andy Robertson played in Gakpo, who cut in from the left and beat a dawdling Raphael Varane before driving a 12-yard strike into the far corner.
Liverpool then made a dream start to the second half as more sloppy United defending resulted in Harvey Elliott crossing from the right, inside the penalty area, for Nunez to nod in from close range.
The third goal was Liverpool at their best, as Jordan Henderson fed Gakpo just outside the hosts’ penalty area, and the Dutchman released Salah on the right. Salah occupied Lisandro Martinez and drew in Shaw, and Gakpo quietly ran into space before being picked out by his team-mate, dashing into the 18-yard box and chipping past De Gea from a tight angle.
It was 4-0 in the 66th minute as Salah smashed in off the underside of the bar after a fortuitous deflection into his path, and 5-0 nine minutes later as Nunez headed in Henderson’s cross. Salah swept in the sixth in the 83rd minute, with United in total disarray, and Firmino, set to leave Liverpool at the end of the season, drilled a seventh.