Liverpool 7 Manchester United 0 Gakpo Nunez and Salah run ri

เวลา:2023-03-14  คลิก:

Two goals each fromCody GakpoDarwin NunezandMohamed SalahhelpedLiverpoolpower to a record win overManchester United.

Gakpo, the Netherlands forward signed from PSV Eindhoven in January, produced his best performance for Jurgen Klopps team, scoring two exquisite goals either side of Nunezs 47th-minute header.

Salah got in on the act with a fourth before Nunez got his second and the Egypt star completed his own double.Roberto Firmino, who confirmed this week he will be leaving at the end of the season, came off the bench to complete the rout.

United, so impressive in recent months, simply had no answer once they went behind and completely folded the empty away end at Anfield in the closing stages said it all.

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This was the Gakpo performance Liverpool fans have been waiting for.

For his first goal, he made a trademark run from the left wing, picked up the ball and cut in on his right foot before curling a finish into the far corner. It was a move he perfected at PSV but not something Liverpool have seen too much of. This was authentically Gakpo.

The timing of his goal two minutes before the break was ideal as it helped Liverpool wrestle momentum back. From there, they never looked back.

9 Andy Robertson has assisted more goals than any other defender for a Premier League side this season (9), while only Kevin De Bruyne (17) has more overall in all competitions. /rl5LBxXSKO

A word for Andy Robertsons pass in the build-up, too. It was perfect and capped off a tremendous half from him. It was his 55th assist in thePremier League, which takes him aboveEden Hazard, Mesut Ozil and Juan Mata (54). It was also his ninth assist of the season only Kevin de Bruyne has more (16 in the league).

It was a back-to-front goal for Gakpos first and the same again for his second as Liverpool launched a textbook counter-attack. Gakpo was involved as he fed the ball to Salah before making his way into the box to score from an acute angle. In a week when it has been revealed Firmino will leave the club this summer, the versatile and calculated Dutchman can help fill the void.

Not since United imploded againstBrentfordin August have they shown such ill discipline.

Liverpool scored four goals in 30 minutes, taking advantage of a team that was scrambled and unable to cope with the adversity they were facing.

Experienced players such asMarcus RashfordBruno FernandesCasemiroRaphael VaraneandLuke Shawneeded to stand up and take control of Uniteds collapse but they went missing and watched the home side take over the match.

Gary Neville, commentating for Sky Sports, labelled Uniteds performance a disgrace and criticised the players for losing their heads and shape.

Fernandes afternoon was summed up when he appeared to push the linesman after failing to get the ball offTrent Alexander-Arnoldfor a throw-in.

Although United were outsiders for a Premier League title challenge, any hope was beaten out of them by Liverpool and they are now 14 points behindArsenal. Regardless of Uniteds game in hand, their chances of winning the league are over.

Salah was the Liverpool player who looked on it right from the start. Coming into the game, he had the chance to equal Robbie Fowlers club record of goals in the Premier League.

Everyone felt he was going to equal it from how he started the game, but not everyone thought he would score two to break it. He knew. He had that air about him. This was another world-class display alongside Nunez and Gakpo, his young strike partners. He is showing them the way.

Salah was fundamental to Liverpools overall domineering energy as United crumbled. He breaks records and when he tapped in his 129th Premier League goal to overtake Fowler, a man Liverpool fans call God, Salah showed he has outgrown even his king status.

He now has 12 goals against Manchester United the most of any player in this fixtures history. Salah continues to haunt United and this performance was something else.

When Klopp spoke on Friday about the resurgence of Marcus Rashford, whose form was so troubling last season, he seemed to be making a wider point about his own team and the need to avoid writing them off, individually and collectively, after an indifferent spell.

No Liverpool player has struggled more this season than Fabinho, whose drop in form was so alarming that he was left out of the starting line-up for four successive matches, and there were gasps of shock and outrage on social media when he returned for the Merseyside derby againstEverton.

But sometimes, rest is exactly what a player needs. Over the past few weeks, with the exception of the second half againstReal Madrid, Fabinho has looked far more like his old self.

This extraordinary Liverpool performance was embodied by their attacking players, but Fabinho played a significant role too. He eclipsed his Brazil team-mate Casemiro, who has rightly been lauded lately but looked well off the pace at Anfield.

Credit should go to Robertson for splitting Uniteds defence in half with a brilliant pass for the opening goal, butVarane and Freddid not cover themselves in glory when trying to prevent Gakpo from scoring in the 43rd minute.

Fredmoved across to close down and intercept Robertsons pass, only to leave a gaping hole for the Liverpool defender to thread the ball through.

This left Varane scrambling to get across to Gakpo inside the box. A player of his experience and quality should have anticipated Liverpools forward cutting inside before getting a shot away.

Uniteds defending after half-time did not improve and Nunez took advantage. Shaw gave the ball away, Casemiro was brushed aside and Varanes efforts to close down were ineffective.

Liverpool countered for their third, resulting inLisandro Martinezbeing turned inside out by Salah before he passed to Nunez, who finished from a narrow angle.

The fourth goal was comical and indicative of a team who had lost any sense of discipline. Liverpool countered again and Salah was able to score from an unmarked position inside the area. Liverpools fifth led to swathes of away fans leaving Anfield. Nunez got himself between Varane andDiogo Dalotand headed his effort beyondDavid de Gea.

The defensive performance took another turn for the worse when they failed to clear the ball, leading to Salahs second and Liverpools sixth. By the time Liverpool added their seventh via Firmino any notion of defending had gone out the window.

The first 25 minutes saw United touch the ball in Liverpools penalty area twice, compared to the home sides 20 and nobody typified a sluggish opening from the away team more than the usually excellent Casemiro.

We have become accustomed to seeing Casemiro playing at such a high level, which means any mistakes he makes are highlighted. Casemiro gave the ball away several times in the opening exchanges and looked uncomfortable coping with Liverpools press.

The Brazil midfielder was substituted forMarcel Sabitzerin the 77th minute and finished the match having attempted only 29 passes, completing 18 of them for his lowest pass completion rate (62 per cent) of the season.

Despite Casemiro not hitting the heights we are used to, United settled into the game and should have taken the lead. Rashford and Fernandes wasted good opportunities, with Casemiro having a goal ruled out for offside.Antonyalso forced Allison into making a good sprawling save.

(Top photo: Robbie Jay Barratt AMA/Getty Images)

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