On an incredible night at Anfield, Liverpool created history by scoring seven unanswered goals against rivals Manchester United in the North-West derby. It was a huge shock for the Red Devils as they were experiencing a mesmerizing season under Erik ten Hag, winning their first silverware in six years in EFL Cup last week, but their efforts were undone on Sunday. Jurgen Klopp’s side handed them a footballing lesson and stretched their unbeaten run in the Premier League to five games without even conceding a goal in that period.
Cody Gakpo opened the scoring for the home of the riot that is about to come just before half-time after both sides came close to taking the lead. United were expected to respond strongly in the second half like in recent games, however, all hell broke loose for them. Eighty-eight seconds after the restart, Darwin Nunez was celebrating Liverpool’s second with Gakpo completing his brace only minutes after. The Uruguayan forward of the team then planted his header into a stranded David de Gea’s net after Mohamed Salah got into the act in the 66th minute. The Egyptian got his second of the evening after a more defensive mishap left United frustrated. Roberto Firmino, playing his last game in this fixture as a Liverpool player, hit the last nail in the coffin off the bench to make it 7-0.
Very few could have predicted the result prior to the game with some putting Manchester United as a slight favorite in the meeting. Instead, the Red Devils got a crushing blow that keeps them 14 points adrift from top placeholders Arsenal putting an end to their title dream if there was one. They are still seven points better than their rivals but Liverpool are now closer to the top four than before with only three points separating them from Tottenham Hotspurs. A stunning revival from the Reds experiencing a disastrous campaign for the most part.
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The evening also went down in records, both on the team and individual levels, which were created and shattered. Here are all of them in a nutshell:
Heaviest defeat
7 - Manchester United have suffered their joint-heaviest ever competitive defeat, alongside 7-0 losses to Wolves in December 1931, Aston Villa in December 1930 and Blackburn Rovers in April 1926. Crushed. pic.twitter.com/b3QaUO0ETC
The 7-0 loss was Manchester United’s joint-heaviest defeat in the club’s history alongside losses against Wolves in 1931, Aston Villa a year before and Blackburn Rovers in 1926 by the same margin. The Red Devils have also lost more Premier League games against Liverpool in 19 such matches than any other side in the competition’s history. They conceded 21 goals and managed to score only three times in the last five derbies.
Biggest win
Liverpool have recorded their biggest-ever competitive victory against Manchester United since 1895 when they also scored seven goals but failed to keep a clean sheet in the 7-1 score. It was the largest win by either side in the entire history of the fixture since the first competitive match of this derby was played in April 1894.
Seven in a row
Jurgen Klopp’s men are now unbeaten in their last seven North-West derbies at Anfield since suffering a 1-0 loss in 2016. It is their longest unbeaten home run against United since a run of nine matches between 1970 and 1979. Liverpool have also scored in each of their last 12 goals this season between themselves and Manchester United at Anfield.
A first in career
Manchester United’s manager Erik ten Hag has not experienced such an abomination in his career with the 7-0 defeat the worst the Dutch suffered in his managerial career. It was the 481st match he has taken charge in all competitions and the 44th for United.
New top-scorer
With his two strikes in the routing, Mohamed Salah became the all-time top goal scorer for Liverpool in the Premier League with 129 goals. The former AS Roma player surpassed Robbie Fowler’s 128 goals record in 205 games compared to the Englishman’s 266. Salah also provided the assists for Gakpo’s second and Firmino’s goal at the end to receive the player of the match award in the game.
Haunting United
Mohamed Salah has proved to be a nemesis for Manchester United each time he has faced them, not just in the Premier League. The 30-year-old is now the first Liverpool player to score in six consecutive appearances against the Red Devils in all competitions. He has amassed 11 goals and four assists in the period having been involved in a goal every 37 minutes of play.
Deadly trio
Along with Salah, Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez also bagged a brace and in doing so became the fourth trio in Premier League history to score two plus goals in the same game since Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did it for Manchester United vs Nottingham Forest in 1999. It was also the first time since 1908 that three Liverpool players has scored two-plus goals in a single game against the Red Devils.
Check out here Most Embarrassing defeats of Manchester United in History
