One of the biggest games in football saw Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool tear through a poor Manchester United at Old Trafford as United slumped to a 5-0 defeat. Mohamed Salah again stepped up on the big occasion as the Egyptian superstar grabbed a hat-trick for his side. Naby Keita and Diogo Jota also found themselves scoring a goal each as Liverpool ran riot.
‘Battered and Bruised’- Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool Embarrass Manchester United
Liverpool Steam Roller Sorry United
Against the Red Devils, the visitors were on the front foot from the very first minute of the game . The Merseyside outfit tasted success in the early stages of the game when Naby Keita broke the deadlock within the first 5 minutes of the game with the United defence gifting him and Salah the freedom of Old Trafford.
United were handed another blow in the 13th minute when Diogo Jota converted from close range after being setup by a low cross from Trent Alexander Arnold in a move that saw more shambolic United defending with Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw making a mess of what should have been a simple clearance. Despite being 2-0 down in the first quarter of the game, the hosts made no solid efforts to reduce the deficit and Liverpool smelt blood.
Misery
Klopp’s men did not back down from piling more misery on the United backline. Salah opened his scoring for the day as he converted a Keita cross to make it 3-0 in favour of the visitors. Just before the half-time whistle the Egyptian added his second of the night as he scored from close range. At half-time, some home fans were spotted in total disbelief and headed for the exits as they had witnessed enough.
The second half of the game started on a positive note for the Anfield club as they made good runs into their attacking third and Salah was able to seal his hattrick in the 50th minute after he was provided with a beautiful pass from Jordan Henderson which he did he duly slotted home.
On a day where everything went wrong for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer his team faced a brutal setback after the fifth goal as substitute Paul Pogba was shown a red card for his reckless tackle on Keita which saw the Liverpool player stretchered off.
Despite United going down to ten men, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool were unable to add more goals to their scoresheet and in the end had to settle for their five-goal lead at Old Trafford. Had Liverpool really gone for it they could have made the score line even more damaging.
Manchester United Comeback Never On the Cards
Manchester United have often been termed as ‘comeback kings’ but against Liverpool they were an altogether different side who never looked like mounting a challenge let alone a comeback.
The likes of Marcus Rashford, Fred and Scott McTominay were all out of sorts and even talisman Ronaldo looked lethargic and offered nothing for the home side.
The worst performances came from the United defence as they were totally below par and the Liverpool attack could hardly believe the space that they were afforded throughout the match.
Manchester United will want to and need to forget this disappointing defeat quickly with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, now under intense pressure and scrutiny with recent rumours suggesting that the Norwegian might be sacked in the next couple of weeks if he is unable to turn things around at the club. Those rumours will only intensify following a truly awful day at the office for Solskjaer and United.
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