The first half seemed to be quite competitive between both sides, with Manchester United arguably having the better chances such as Bruno Fernandes’ header in the 26th minute which narrowly missed the goal. However, it would be Liverpool who would take the lead with a composed finish from Cody Gakpo after poor defending errors from Fred and Varane.
The second half was expected to have more of the same competitiveness, but this was not the case. A quickfire start by Liverpool saw Darwin Nunez score a scrappy goal in the 47th minute to put Liverpool 2-0 up. This goal seemed to have a snowball effect for Liverpool as they relentlessly began barraging the Red Devils’ defence with shot after shot, as Gakpo bagged himself a brace in the 50th minute whilst Salah joined the scoresheet in the 66th minute.
At this point in the match every Manchester United fan was in disbelief as they witnessed their team capitulate in front of their eyes. This disbelief quickly began to turn into a nightmare as Liverpool scored 3 more goals in the 76th, 83rd and 89th minutes making it United’s biggest loss ever in the premier league. The shambolic team performance displayed by Manchester United had fans and pundits scratching their heads as to why this team in such great form were beaten so easily.
Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag labelled the performance as ‘unprofessional’ in his post-match interview as he attributed the sloppy defeat to ‘organisational mistakes’. In contrast, the victorious manager Jurgen Klopp stated that he thought it was ‘a spectacular football game’ and he will surely regard this win as a huge step forward in the progress of Liverpool’s rather disappointing season so far. Liverpool currently sit at 5th in the premier league table, and their recent run of 4 wins in 5 games will definitely encourage fans into believing that their team will make the Champions League spots this season after it seemed a lost cause just 10 games ago.
Manchester United will hope to bounce back with a win in the Europa League this Thursday against Real Betis and regain their electric form which has been on full display for most of the season. Faith in Ten Hag has not been lost by the fan base as one twitter user stated ‘I believe Ten Hag is the man for us’, hopefully this devotion and patience towards the manager can be repaid with another trophy although after this defeat it seems as though the premier league title will undoubtedly go into the hands of either Arsenal or Manchester City.