LONDON: Liverpool chose the perfect occasion to answer their critics in dramatic style and prove that manager Jurgen Klopp has not lost his managerial magic touch.

The Reds, urged on by the limitless faith of their Anfield faithful, thrashed their old derby rivals Manchester United by a record 7-0 to move up into fifth place, now just three points behind fourth-placed Tottenham and with one game in hand.

Cody Gakpo, heir-apparent to Roberto Firmino as Liverpool’s false No9, struck two superb goals to end United’s 11-game unbeaten run and repay a large slice of the £37m fee paid to PSV Eindhoven in January.

There were two goals for Darwin Nunez, filling the attacking gap left by Sadio Mane’s move to FC Bayern and another two for. Mo Salah who became Liverpool’s top Premier League marksman by taking his tally to 129, one more than Robbie Fowler,

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said: “Spectacular game, outstanding. It was exactly what we needed. Super lively, we played top football against a team in form. First half they got a foot in the game and then we scored an incredible goal. Second half the start was pretty good, everything was pretty good. That’s football. That can happen. We got a very important three points. Perfect.”

United’s Erik ten Hag was an angry man, saying: “I think we played a decent first half. One mistake in organisation just before half-time. Second half it was just not us. It was not our standards. We didn’t play as a team. It was unprofessional. I am angry. We didn’t stick to the plan and we didn’t do our jobs. It was really unprofessional.”

The first half brought few openings. United contained Liverpool’s quick-paced start and then created a number of half-chances on the transition.

Bruno Fernandes was narrowly wide with a header, Rashford miscued a shot when clear in front of goal and Diogo Dalot surprised the Liverpool defence by sneaking into the penalty box but placed his header straight at Alisson. Casemiro then had a ‘goal’ disallowed for offside.

Liverpool capitalised in the 44th minute. Alisson cleared to Andy Robertson who cut inside before splitting the United defence so Cody Gakpo could wrong-foot Fred before beating David de Gea with Liverpool’s first shot on target. This was the Dutch World Cup forward’s third goal in his last six games.

This was the seventh time United had trailed this year but any thought of their “usual” comeback were shattered two minutes into the second half.

Their defence was badly at fault. First came a misplaced pass by Luke Shaw then a failed interception by Casemiro. Harvey Eliott took up the loose ball, crossed hard from the right and Darwin Nunez headed home from close range.

Three more minutes and it was 3:0 after an end-to-end counter-attack. Gakpo started the move by sending Mo Salah away on the right and then raced forward to collect the return pass and chip Alisson from an acute angle. Salah then wrote his own name on the scoresheet in the 66th minute.

United were heading for their worst beating of the season as Salah wrote his own name on the scoresheet in the 66th minute with his 11th and 12th goals against them, either side of Nunez heading home a Henderson cross for No5

Finally substitute Firmino, who has confirmed he will leave at the end of the season, joined the fun with a goal of his own.

This was the Liverpool of old and, oddly, also the United of (recent) old.

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