Liverpool’s biggest win over Man United: 7-0 score stuns Erik ten Hag as Jurgen Klopp reacts to Mo Salah record
Liverpool not only beat Manchester United to move up to fifth in the Premier League table at Anfield on Sunday, but embarrassed the Red Devils in an unprecedented way in the legendary rivalry between those two clubs.
The 7-0 result, thanks in large part to a brace from Liverpool star Mohamed Salah, broke multiple records at multiple levels, with team, matchup and individual standings all falling in a 90-minute performance.
Adding to Salah’s exceptional performance, Cody Gakpo delivered a pair, Darwin Nunez also had a brace and Roberto Firmino came on late from the bench. It was a resounding punch from the Reds that put them within striking distance of a Champions League spot, a surprising development given their palpable struggles throughout the season.
For Manchester United, the embarrassment all but ends their hopes of pushing Arsenal and Manchester City to a Premier League title as they are now 14 points behind the Gunners in first place with just one game left. Coach Erik ten Hag was furious after the game and slammed his team for “losing their heads” and falling short of expectations across the board.
MORE: Anfield highlights and comments as United beat rivals Liverpool 7-0
Liverpool’s biggest win against Man United
Sunday’s result was Liverpool’s biggest win over Manchester United in history, beating the previous record set over a century ago.
In 1895, Liverpool welcomed Newton Heath, later to become Manchester United, to Anfield for the first-ever meeting between the two sides at the famous ground. The 7-1 result would rank as Liverpool’s greatest win over their rivals in matchup history up to that point.
😤 Liverpool record their biggest win ever against Manchester United. pic.twitter.com/ZeN4WSE0su
— Sporting News Football Club (@sn_footballclub) March 5, 2023
Liverpool have dominated Manchester United in recent years, no matter where the two sit in the Premier League table at the time they meet. Liverpool have scored at least four goals in three of their last four league games, including two wins from a combined 11-0 at Anfield.
The Red Devils have not won at Anfield since 2016, an ever-growing string of poor results on their rivals’ famous ground.
😳 The total score of the last two seasons in the #First League between Liverpool and Manchester United:
Liverpool 7-0 Man United
Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool
Liverpool 4-0 Man United
Manchester United 0-5 LiverpoolLiverpool 17-2 Man United. pic.twitter.com/qlkO09GUPR
— Sporting News Football Club (@sn_footballclub) March 5, 2023
How Man United endured their worst defeat ever against Liverpool
While the focus is on the turbulent history between these two clubs, there is an even more tragic benchmark that Manchester United achieved with this result. The seven-goal defeat equaled Man United’s record loss to every opponent in the club’s history, a feat of futility accomplished just three times before, all over 90 years ago – against Blackburn in 1926, against Aston Villa in 1930 , and against wolves in 1931.
So how did this happen? It was a perfect storm of glittering Liverpool performances coupled with a multitude of Red Devil disappearances.
From a Manchester United perspective, it starts with David de Gea in goal. While de Gea’s distribution problems have reigned for months, if not years, his ability to stop shots has always been his calling card. But today he missed even that. De Gea faced eight shots on target and made just a single save, conceding seven goals with just 2.65 xG (expected goals) and 3.61 xGOT (expected goals on target), a lazy performance.
Manchester United’s defenders were also extremely bad. Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez both experienced embarrassing moments as Varane was spun around Cody Gakpo’s first-half opener and his Argentina centre-back was smashed into the Egyptian’s second place by Mohamed Salah in the 66th minute.
Up front, Antony and Bruno Fernandes were lavish in attack as the two combined recorded 43 turnovers from a total of 82 touches. That meant talisman Marcus Rashford had just 25 touches overall as United failed to get their in-form player involved in the action before Erik ten Hag pulled him off with five minutes remaining and the game was completely over.
Sixteenth time #muffc have conceded seven goals in their history and only their fourth 7-0 defeat ever. They have scored in their last eight games at Anfield and that was in a manager’s last game.
— Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) March 5, 2023
MORE: Man United quadruple chase in shambles as Premier League title slides further and further out of reach
Erik ten Hag reacts to Man United’s 7-0 defeat
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag slammed his side for their surrender in the game. The Red Devils were only 1-0 down at half-time and had acted aggressively at lightning speed in the first 45 minutes, but failed to show any competitive action after the break.
“You can lose a game, I’m in the dressing room right now, but not like we lost the second half.” ten Hag told beIN Sports After the game. “The second half was unprofessional, that shouldn’t happen, we have to talk about it.”
“It wasn’t about one or two players, it was about the whole team. I saw 11 people lose their heads, didn’t stick to the plan and just let it come and that’s unprofessional. It’s not Manchester United, we have others.” Standards that we want to show.”
“The second half is … unprofessional, that’s not Manchester United” ❌
Erik ten Hag was unforgiving in his assessment of his team today!
🎤 @AndyKerrtv #beINPL #LIVMUN 🔴👹 pic.twitter.com/HE9rfDh63R
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) March 5, 2023
The Dutchman denied that fatigue had anything to do with today’s performance as they battle on multiple fronts.
“No,” Ten Hag said flatly when asked if fatigue was setting in. “We can bring the performances [from] four days ago, seven days ago, so that has nothing to do with it. It’s all about the head. We know Liverpool are a good transition team, so when you’re down 1-0 you can’t lose your head because you’re putting them in transition moments.”
Ten Hag wasn’t done yet. “I’m really disappointed and angry,” he continued, speaking to Sky Sports. “We let our fans down. As a squad, as a team, you can’t let that happen. You have to stick together and support each other and fight for each other. You have to defend yourself. We didn’t do that and that’s really unprofessional for me.”
Mo Salah breaks Liverpool record as Klopp heaps praise
Mohamed Salah scored a brace to propel Liverpool to a record win, but one goal in particular has left its mark on Liverpool history at an individual level.
His second and sixth for Liverpool gave the Egyptian 129 career goals for Liverpool in the Premier League, surpassing Robbie Fowler’s previous mark of 128. He still has some way to go to match Roger Hunt’s all-time mark of 244 league goals, but In In the Premier League era, nobody stands in front of the net at Liverpool over Salah.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” Klopp told Sky Sports after the game. “129 goals. Absolutely crazy. I don’t know how many goals he was involved in [as well]. We appreciate him a lot now and we will look back and really appreciate him, he is something special.”
Salah himself paid tribute to his performance after the game, tells Sky Sports after the game that Liverpool’s all-time goalscoring record “has been on my mind since I came here”.
“I’m very happy for Mo [Salah]’ said Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson. “He dedicates his life to football. He’s the first in and the last out.”
👑 Mo Salah. Liverpool legend. #LIVMUN | #LFC pic.twitter.com/oiIOU4hcOd
— The Sportsman (@TheSportsman) March 5, 2023
Klopp was over the moon with the result, as you can imagine with the Liverpool boss after the overwhelming win.
“No words,” That’s what Klopp told Sky Sports After the game. “Spectacular football game, isn’t it? Superb. The start of the game was exactly what we needed, it was super lively, super active. The first half got a bit wild in a way we didn’t want but we got one Getting his foot in the game and then scoring an incredible goal.”
“Second half, obviously the start was pretty good, the end was pretty good, everything was pretty good.”
