Liverpool vs Manchester United – Football Match Report – 5 March 2023

Liverpool halted Manchester United’s momentum as Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah all scored twice in a record 7-0 thrashing of their arch-rivals to confirm their Premier League top-four hopes at Anfield on Sunday.

A week after a resurgent United won their first trophy since 2017 by winning the Carabao Cup, and speaking of the title, they exploded either side of half-time as Liverpool recorded their biggest-ever margin of victory in a match.

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Third-placed United had looked slightly better for 43 minutes but it turned into an Anfield horror show for Erik ten Hag’s side as they suffered the club’s worst defeat since a 7-0 drubbing at Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1931.

“No words [for what we just did]”Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp said after the match. “Super front foot, very lively, very active. They played some great football against an in-form team. The first half we got a little wild in a way we didn’t want. The second half, obviously the start was pretty good, the end was pretty good, everything else was pretty good.”

Gakpo’s brilliant goal from Liverpool’s first attempt on goal gave the hosts the lead at the break.

Five minutes after the restart it was all over as the contest saw Darwin make it 2-0 with a header after some comical United defending, before a lightning Liverpool counter-attack led by Salah ended with Gakpo finishing in style to make it 3-0.

With United distraught and distraught, Salah stepped up to fire in his side’s fourth goal in the 66th minute and Nunez then sent a header past helpless goalkeeper David De Gea in the 75th minute. But there was more to come.

Salah rubbed salt into United’s wounds with a close-range effort to score a record 129th Premier League goal for the club, eclipsing Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler.

Roberto Firmino then came off the bench to send Klopp’s side into seventh heaven, although by then most United followers had headed for the away games.

Liverpool beat United 4-0 at Anfield in April 2022, but given the fortunes of the two clubs since that day, this result was a big surprise.

United’s shock defeat, described as a “disgrace” by Sky Sports pundit and their former defender Gary Neville, left them third on 49 points and certainly out of the Championship. They are 14 points adrift of leaders Arsenal, who have played a game more.

Liverpool’s fourth win in five league games lifted them above Newcastle United into fifth on 42 points, three points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur with a game in hand.

“It was a fantastic day for everyone,” Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson told Sky Sports. “The level of performance from every player was top notch today, which is obviously something we’ve been missing for a while.

– Today you could see the energy levels and everything was back, although to be fair the last Premier League games had shown that we were on the right track.

Liverpool’s previous biggest win against United was a 7-1 win in 1895, when both clubs were in the second tier.