At halftime of one of English soccer’s fiercest rivalry, Liverpool and Manchester United were locked in a tight battle that saw the former hanging onto a 1–0 lead. Then, the floodgates opened.
Much to the delight of the home crowd, Liverpool ran away with its biggest-ever win over its bitter rival in shocking fashion, scoring six second-half goals in a 7–0 rout Sunday. The margin of defeat marked the heaviest loss in Manchester United’s Premier League history, and matched the biggest loss in the club’s history (with the most recent seven-goal loss coming in 1953).
Liverpool has now gone undefeated in its last five Premier League matches—keeping a clean sheet in all five—while jumping up to fifth in the table, just three points behind Spurs with a game in hand. Meanwhile, the loss marked third-place Manchester United’s first defeat since Jan. 22 at Arsenal.
It was winter signing Cody Gakpo who opened the scoring just on the brink of halftime with his 43rd-minute goal, his first of two on the day.
Darwin Núñez also added two on the day, scoring just two minutes after the halftime interval and in the 75th minute.
Mohamed Salah gave Manchester United plenty of problems—and became Liverpool’s all-time Premier League scorer—with his goals in the 66th and 83rd minute, while Roberto Firmino filled out the scoring with the club’s seventh in the 88th.
Liverpool will face Bournemouth next weekend before it looks to overturn its 5–2 loss to Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 last month. Meanwhile, Manchester United will next face Real Betis in the Europa League round of 16.
