A dominant display from Liverpool was rewarded with a convincing 4-0 win against Manchester United at Anfield in Tuesday’s Premier League fixture.
The win saw Liverpool go top in the league table on 76 points just two points ahead of Manchester City, who will reclaim top spot if they beat Brighton on Wednesday.
A brace from Mohamed Salah and goals from Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz saw Liverpool complete the double over United this season.
The defeat leaves United in fifth place on 54 points just three points from a top four spot.
Liverpool made their positive start count as they took the lead in the fifth minute as Luis Diaz slotted home Mohamed Salah’s pass off a counter.
In the seventh minute both sets of fans showed support for Cristiano Ronaldo and his family by giving a minute applause following the death of his baby boy.
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Five minutes after Liverpool’s opener United were forced into an early substitution as Paul Pogba went off injured and was replaced by Jesse Lingard.
In the 22nd minute Liverpool went 2-0 ahead thanks to Salah who received a brilliant lobbed assist from Mane before shooting past David De Gea.
Salah’s goal means he is only the second player to both score and assist in home and away games against United in a single Premier League season, after Mesut Ozil in 2015-16.
Diaz thought he had bagged his second goal of the game in 34 minutes but his effort was ruled out for offside.
Before the start of the second half United made their second change with Jadon Sancho replacing Phil Jones.
Ten minutes into the second half United had their first shot on goal but Sancho’s weak effort did not trouble Allison.
In the 64th minute Allison made a double save from Marcus Rashford and Aaron Wan-Bissaka but the flag later went up for offside.
After a good period of play from United Liverpool went 3-0 ahead on 68 minutes as Mane slotted home Diaz’s cross following a quick counter initiated by Andy Robertson.
In the 77th minute a long pass from Bruno Fernandes picked out Sancho but his attempted cross to Rashford was stopped by Allison.
Liverpool almost added a fourth on 79 minutes but an attempted low cross from Robertson was blocked for a corner by Diogo Dalot.
In the 85th Salah got his second and Liverpool’s fourth with a brilliant lob over De Gea after a superb through pass from Diogo Jota.
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Former Man United gaffer Alex Ferguson had a few digs at other clubs in his time. He called Man City a “SMALL CLUB WITH A SMALL MENTALITY”.
He berated Liverpool, boasting that Man United would KNOCK THEM OFF THEIR PERCH by beating them to the premier league title. And they did. Over, and over, and over again.
Now, it is Liverpool’s turn to twist the knife. Carragher’s dig is only in keeping with the long-standing rivalry between the 2 clubs. And after today’s match, the title contender has put the top-four wannabe to the sword.
Without CR7, this Man United side is decidedly toothless upfront. Add to that a weak midfield and a shaky defense line led by the under-fire Maguire, and you have a side that has actually over-achieved by being in the top 10.
Man United desperately need to flood the club with new proven talent.
CR7 can’t do it all alone for them.
As for Liverpool, things couldn’t be better at the moment. They are arguably the strongest side on the planet right now. They have a great shot at winning the treble of trophies.
Pep likely has other ideas though, with Man City still in the race for the premier league and the Champions League trophies.
Plenty of football left to be played, folks. Tighten your seatbelts.