Liverpool pulled off a remarkable performance to seal a 7-0 victory over Man United on Sunday evening, with their hopes of a top-four finish increasing.
Liverpool 7-0 Man United
Premier League (25), Anfield
March 4, 2023
Goals
Gakpo 43′ (assist – Robertson)
Nunez 47′ (assist – Elliott)
Gakpo 50′ (assist – Salah)
Salah 66′ (assist – Nunez)
Nunez 75′ (assist – Henderson)
Salah 83′ (assist – Firmino)
Firmino 88′ (assist – Salah)
Under a weight of expectation, a Liverpool side in quietly strong form welcomed United to Anfield with a fierce atmosphere raining down on the visitors from Manchester.
Buoyed by the crowd, the Reds were on top for much of the early stages, with Harvey Elliott excellent in midfield and Andy Robertson on the overlap, while Mo Salah was ever dangerous.
It was an edge-of-the-seat watch, though, as United posed a threat throughout, with only their final ball or weak efforts depriving them of a lead.
Casemiro, the media’s focus in the buildup to the game, had the ball in the back of the net with less than five minutes left of the first half, only to be ruled out for offside.
Then straight after, Liverpool opened the scoring with Robertson’s stunning pass releasing Cody Gakpo who cut inside and finished brilliantly with his right foot.
HT: Liverpool 1-0 Man United
With Gary Neville in the gantry insisting he was confident United would not lose, within five minutes of the restart Liverpool were 3-0 up.
United were unable to clear their lines as the Reds took an offensive front, and with the ball falling to Elliott in the penalty area the midfielder lifted it up for Darwin Nunez to head in.
Then soon after, a brittle United attack made way for a blistering counter led by Gakpo, who fed Salah and drove forward to pick up the return and chip David de Gea at a tight angle.
It only got worse for United, too, with another counter-attack midway through the second half eventually seeing Nunez play it to Salah via a deflection, the No. 11 hammering in off the crossbar for 4-0.
That wasn’t even the end of the scoring, with Liverpool absorbing two hopeful efforts from Marcus Rashford before going up the other end where Nunez headed in Jordan Henderson‘s cross.
The referee bottled his job late on as Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw flounced around the pitch, and another calamity at the back allowed Salah to make it 6-0 and become Liverpool’s all-time leading Premier League goalscorer.
And there was still time for a seventh from Roberto Firmino, capping an emotional week with a huge, huge win.
TIA Man of the Match: Cody Gakpo
Referee: Andrew Madley
Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho (Milner 78′), Henderson (Bajcetic 78′), Elliott; Salah (Jones 85′), Nunez (Jota 78′), Gakpo (Firmino 78′)
Subs not used: Kelleher, Matip, Tsimikas, Carvalho
Man United: De Gea; Dalot, Varane, Martinez, Shaw; Casemiro, Fred; Antony, Fernandes, Rashford; Weghorst
Subs not used: Heaton, Maguire, Malacia, Wan-Bissaka, McTominay, Sabitzer, Elanga, Sancho, Garnacho
Next match: Bournemouth (A) – Premier League – Saturday, March 11, 12.30pm (GMT)
