Football

Man Utd 0-5 Liverpool: Five things we learned

October 25, 2021 3:46 pm

Liverpool left Old Trafford with beaming smiles on Sunday after stunning Manchester United in a 5-0 thrashing.

Mohamed Salah was once again the man of the moment in a chaotic game in Manchester. The Egyptian netted a hat-trick to hit double figures for league goals this season. His 10 strikes have arrived in just nine games.

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Naby Keita and Diogo Jota were also on the scoresheet. And Paul Pogba saw red for the hosts.

Here are five things we learned from the unforgettable encounter:

Miserable, miserable Man Utd

Where does one even begin with that Man Utd performance? Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will certainly take the brunt of the blame. The Norwegian’s tactics have been questioned week after week.

The returning Cristiano Ronaldo has helped rescue his side ever since coming back to Manchester. But that ‘tactic’ simply does not work against a team as quality as Liverpool. 

The visitors sliced open a shambolic United defence time and again. What’s more embarrassing for the home side is that it could have been much more than five had Klopp’s men not taken their foot off the gas.

Liverpool fire title warning

Jurgen Klopp’s side may have let their guard down last season, slipping to third place. It was that blip in form last time out when many questioned if they had what it takes to get back on track this time around.

Well, those questions have been answered emphatically. Chelsea started the weekend off with a 7-0 thumping of Norwich, reminding English football just how deadly they can be. But Liverpool have now fired a warning message of their own.

The Merseyside outfit are now just one of four teams in Europe’s top five leagues without a loss to their name this season. Serie A duo Napoli and AC Milan remain undefeated, as do German club SC Freiburg.

Records, records, records

Sunday was a day for records tumbling. Sadly for Man Utd, it is some of the most unwanted records out there. Thanks to OptaJoe, five seems to be the magic number.

United suffered their heaviest ever home defeat to their bitter rivals, while it was the first time they have lost to-nil by 5+ goals at home since 1955. It was also just the second time in 617 top-flight appearances that Ronaldo has been on the receiving end of 5+ goals in a match.

Ole out?

We’ve mentioned the lack of game plan and philosophy from Ole already. But where does this damning defeat leave the manager? Is there a way back from here?

A chorus of boos and early exits from Old Trafford certainly suggest that change is a popular opinion. The inquest begins now, but is there a suitable replacement available? High-profile names Zinedine Zidane and Antonio Conte have both been linked.

Salah: best in the world

That statement finished with a question mark not so long ago. But now there cannot be any doubt. The winger has proved himself time and again since joining the Reds in 2017. His extraordinary efforts now place him as the highest-scoring African in Premier League history. Salah’s 107 goals put him three ahead of former Chelsea man Didier Drogba.

It was also the tenth successive game in which the Egyptian has scored. The 29-year-old also hit the first-ever opposition Premier League hat-trick at Old Trafford.

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