Liverpool abruptly stopped Manchester United’s momentum at Anfield on Sunday, with Cody Gakpo, Darwin Núñez and Mohamed Salah each scoring twice in a record 7-0 win over their arch-rivals, bolstering their chances of finishing the season. English Championship in the top four.
A day to remember for @LFC ?#LIVMUN pic.twitter.com/gv0LYeGmEN
— Premier League (@premierleague) March 5, 2023
A week after United clinched their first league title since 2017 by winning the League Cup, amidst discussions of a possible title fight, they were beaten as Liverpool recorded their biggest win in the history of the fixture.
United looked the slightly better team for 43 minutes before Gakpo’s superb finish on Liverpool’s first shot on target gave the hosts the lead going into the break.
Five minutes after the restart, the contest was over, with Núñez making it 2-0 with a header after some comical defensive actions by United, before a Salah-led Liverpool counter-attack ended with Gakpo’s elegant finish for the 3 to 0.
With United in disarray, Salah scored with an accurate finish in the 21st minute and Núñez scored again with a header past a helpless De Gea in the 30th minute.
More Reds history written by @MoSalah ? pic.twitter.com/E6WZ0IEzT2
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 5, 2023
Salah rubbed salt into United’s wounds with a close-range effort to reach 129 Premier League goals for the club, a Liverpool record in the modern era of the Premier League, before Roberto Firmino came off the bench to score a seventh.
Liverpool had thrashed United 4-0 at Anfield last April, but considering the two clubs’ reversal of momentum since that day, this result came as a huge surprise.
Untied’s defeat, described by Sky Sports commentator and former club right-back Gary Neville as a “disgrace” left them in third place on 49 points and certainly out of contention for the title, now 14 points behind. Arsenal leader.
Liverpool’s fourth win in five Premier League games saw them edge past Newcastle to fifth on 42 points, three behind fourth-placed Tottenham with a game in hand.
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