Enlarge image
Mohamed Salah scored three goals and submitted one
Photo: Michael Regan / Getty Images
Low blow of the game:
The frustration of the United players was deep after 45 minutes when the scoreboard at Old Trafford showed a 3-0. So deep that superstar Cristiano Ronaldo let himself be carried away to shoot the ball in the abdomen of Curtis Jones, who was lying on the ground, so deep that Fred tore his leg in a duel with Naby Keïta almost at head height. Referee Anthony Taylor punished both actions with a yellow card. The embarrassment that the Red Devils faced so defiantly rustic was over, but still not: As a result of the fouls, an extra minute was added to the three minutes of stoppage time - Mohamed Salah used it to make it 4-0. Manchester United no longer staggered, Manchester United was down.
The result:
45 minutes later, the final whistle released United. Liverpool FC left the field as a shining winner after the great arch rival was outclassed 5-0 (4-0) in his own living room.
First half:
possession of the ball? The number of degrees? Almost balanced in each case. What set Jürgen Klopp's team apart from United was the quality of the action. Once because every LFC attack was carried out with verve, coordinated running paths and sharp passes, once because only United made huge mistakes. Luke Shaw had to defend against three opponents as a one-man defensive chain before the 0: 1, Keïta scored easily (8th). Before Diogo Jota's goal (13th), Shaw and Harry Maguire irritated each other. Only Salah would have been hard to defend without a mistake, despite the happy scoring of goals (38th, 45th + 4).
Generation change:
In Livermore, California, an almost unbreakable lightbulb has been burning for 120 years. In Liverpool, England, their soccer equivalent is called James Milner. The model professional is only 35, with a Premier League debut in 2002 (!) But the Methuselah in the Liverpool squad. What, of course, does not change anything in his regular position, Milner recently started five times in a row. It could take some time until the next starting eleven: Milner injured himself without any opponent action, Curtis Jones took his place. When Milner's league debut he was a whole year old.
The best in the world:
In the year two after Curtis Jones' birth (2003 according to our era), a guest player scored three goals for the last time at Old Trafford. Already at the break, Mo Salah was on the verge of becoming a United scare again after 18 years like "Il Fenomeno", the Brazilian Ronaldo, during his guest appearance with Real Madrid. It is fitting that Salah's achievements have to be mentioned in the same breath as players like the three-time world footballer in order to begin to classify them: Ten goals and five assists are the Egyptians after nine Premier League match days. Perhaps Salah is the best player to run on the grass pitches of the world right now.
Second half:
Liverpool United did not allow much more than the 15-minute grace period: After a fine pass from Jordan Henderson, Salah did his hat trick perfectly (50th). United tried to limit the damage, but a possible consolation goal from Cristiano Ronaldo was prevented by the video assistant (52nd) due to an offside position, Edinson Cavani's big chance thwarted the lower edge of the crossbar (83rd). Many fans no longer saw the Uruguayan's opportunity, the United supporters left Old Trafford in droves after the 5-0 draw.
A foul with consequences: The
fact that Liverpool did not refill should not only have to be owed to the sparing, but also to have been an offer of peace.
After the double yellow before the break, the substitute Paul Pogba picked up red after the world champion Keïta had knocked over rudely (61.).
The ex-Leipzig, who had contributed a template in addition to his goal and seemed to be stuck in the first team of the Reds for the first time since his transfer in 2018, had to be injured from the field.
The sum of its parts:
Questions will be asked in Manchester after their third consecutive Premier League defeat.
Where did the class difference come from?
The answer is probably that the Reds United did not even have to be dismantled into its individual parts.
United always appears as a collection of individual parts.
That is often enough to win.
But a world-class team like the Reds, which works as a collective, punishes a fragmented pressing like before the 1-0.
Liverpool presses according to clear patterns, they do not play combination football as a chance product of individual ingenuity, but in practiced moves.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær's team, on the other hand, has no trademark, apart from the fact that every footballer has talent for himself.
Since it doesn't need a coach, the Norwegian’s job is in danger more than ever.