Liverpool 4-0 Man Utd (Diaz 5′, Salah 22′, 85′, Mane 68′)
Mark ‘Bez’ Berry! LS Lowry! Tony Wilson! Emmeline Pankhurst! Morrissey! Your boys took a hell of a thoroughly expected beating.
The scoreline is rather misleading. This was men against boys. Cats chasing Mice. Muhammad Ali versus Richard Dunn. Liverpool have been in a different realm to Manchester United this season, and a colossal mismatch at Anfield was no different.
The last time United came to Anfield they were top of the table, before holding the hosts to a battling 0-0 draw. An awful lot has happened in 15 months. Now it is again table-topping Liverpool’s turn to look down on their chaotic foes below.
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Phil Jones was given his second league start of the season as Ralf Rangnick made a futile attempt to stifle the hosts with a five-man backline, but Luis Diaz’s finish after one pass over the top for Mohamed Salah cut through United like a knife through warm-to-melting butter immediately ensured any semblance of a visiting game-plan was thrown out of the window.
Without Cristiano Ronaldo in the side after the devastating news about his baby son, both sets of fans came together to warmly applaud in the seventh minute as a mark of respect, before the hosts got back to their dismantling.
The crowd knew United were on the ropes, cheering every tackle with venom, encouraging their side to really hammer home how big the chasm is between the current incumbents of these once title rivals.
It must have been galling for the forefather of gegenpressing to see his philosophy rubbed in his face, with Liverpool not giving United a second on the ball. When they did win the ball back, a few seconds is all the hosts needed to make it 2-0. The football was slick into the feet of Sadio Mane, before the Senegalese forward clipped a sumptuous pass over the top for Salah, who finished with precision, forgetting he has supposedly lost his touch having not scored for six matches in all competitions before Tuesday’s encounter.
Thiago, whose form has gone unnoticed by many outside of Merseyside, was at the heart of everything, his every touch deserving of being hung in the Louvre. It did help that he was afforded the freedom of Anfield, mind.
Diaz had the net bulging again before half was out, but the linesman’s flag gave United some welcome relief. The hapless visitors went into the break having not had a shot, on or off target, in 45 minutes compared to Liverpool’s nine.
A strange thing happened after the interval – Liverpool seemed to show United some mercy. The introduction of Jadon Sancho off the bench at half time gave his side at least some threat, with the England international having the visitor’s first effort at goal.
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Jurgen Klopp was furious on the touchline. Why had his team relented? Why had they started to look like an ordinary side, and let United into thinking they dare go toe-to-toe with them?
The German need not fear, as United gave the ball needlessly, their players did not have the desire to track back, Andrew Robertson swarmed forward, played in Diaz, who fed Mane to put the game to bed.
Salah added to the hilarity with a late fourth, nonchalantly chipped over David de Gea as home fans took a break from laughing at what their rivals had become, breaking into further celebration after their final rendition of “you’re so s___ it’s unbelievable”.
United had got themselves back into the top-four race by accident, doing their best not to beat Norwich on Saturday before Ronaldo and De Gea dragged them out of the mire once more.
They travelled to Anfield with the added incentive of trying to stop Liverpool winning an unprecedented quadruple, evoking memories of when United beat their arch-rivals in the 1977 FA Cup final to prevent Bob Paisley’s Reds storming to the league, European Cup and FA Cup treble.
But United would have had more chance of getting something at Anfield had the same 1977 team taken to the field instead.
Rangnick has talked about how United need to match the Liverpool model if they are going to start competing for titles again, but no matter how much of an instant hit Erik ten Hag is, or how good a transfer window they have in the summer, they still won’t get close to this imperious Liverpool machine.
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