Mo Salah inspired Liverpool humiliate Man United as Old Trafford
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring their side's third goal
A Mo Salah hat-trick hardly began to tell the story of the low point of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United reign and a final whistle which was greeted by a cacophony of boos.
A humiliating defeat to United’s traditional rivals came on the 10th anniversary weekend of a 6-1 loss to cross-town foes City, a result which announced their neighbours as a new force in the English game.
On this occasion, United even contrived to finish the game with 10 men as Paul Pogba, a half-time substitute, barely lasted 15 minutes before being show a straight red for a studs-up foul on Naby Keita.
In the aftermath of this wreckage, the question is whether United will ever return to their former glories and compete at the top of English football again.
Jurgen Klopp’s side moved seven points above United with this humiliation although the game hardly suggested that Solskjaer’s team deserved to be that close to Liverpool in the table.
By the end of the first 45 minutes, United trailed by four on a day that was rapidly matching the embarrassment a decade ago, as one of the low points of their modern history.
And it could have been even worse, given Liverpool's ruthless efficiency and United’s complete defensive surrender.
It started after just five minutes - the earliest the Merseyside Reds have ever scored in a Premier League game at Old Trafford.
Liverpool counter-attacked, as they have so often in recent seasons, with Luke Shaw playing the visitors onside and Roberto Firmino finding Salah.
The Egyptian selflessly held the ball up before slipping it to Keita who finished clinically past the helpless David de Gea.
There were hints already of the carnage to come and de Gea saved from Firmino and Salah shot wide from a promising position before the visitors doubled their lead with, still, only 13 minutes gone.
This was even worse than the opener, from a United perspective, as Harry Maguire and Shaw collided on the edge of the area, gifting the ball to Keita.
He pushed it wide to Trent Alexander-Arnold whose far-post cross picked out Diogo Jota who slid in to convert into an open goal.
The game - and United - looked finished; Liverpool sniffing blood and the only surprise was that Alisson was forced into serious action, saving from Mason Greenwood, before the visitors made it 3-0.
Salah had the space to shoot on the edge of the United area, the ball hitting Maguire who recovered slowly as it broke to Keita whose cross was turned in by Salah.
United’s frustration was obvious, and Cristiano Ronaldo went into the book in first-half injury-time for booting Curtis Jones, and kicking the ball into the prone Liverpool sub.
But revenge for Klopp’s side came in the form of a fourth goal, five minutes into added time, as Maguire allowed Firmino to slip from him, Andy Robertson played in Jota and Salah side-footed in his near-post assist.
The boos that greeted the half-time whistled were followed by fans leaving the stadium in droves after Salah completed his hat-trick on 49 minutes.
Keita and Jordan Henderson robbed Fred in midfield and the latter’s through ball played Salah clear for the striker to finish clinically.
United, at least, appeared to have pulled a goal back when Ronaldo curled in a shot three minutes later but, in keeping with a wretched day, VAR quickly ruled it out for offside.
As Liverpool coasted towards their biggest ever win at Old Trafford, Pogba would leave the fray early with his red card but the fall-out promises to last far longer than the impact of the Frenchman’s suspension.
De Gea 6; Wan-Bissaka 4, Lindelof 5, Maguire 4, Shaw 4; McTominay 5, Fred 5; Greenwood 6 (Pogba 45, 6), Fernandes 5 (Cavani 62, 5), Rashford 5 (Dalot 62, 5); Ronaldo 5.
Bailly, Lingard, Sancho, Henderson, Matic, van de Beek.
Alisson 7; Alexander-Arnold 7, Konate 8, van Dijk 7, Robertson 7; Keita 8 (Oxlade-Chamberlain 63, 7), Henderson 7, Milner 6 (Jones 26, 7); Salah 10, Firmino 8 (Mane 76, 6), Jota 8.
Gomez, Adrian, Minamino, Tsimikas, Origi, Matip.
A Taylor 8.
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