Rampant Reds hand United their joint heaviest defeat
During the weekend, Manchester United suffered an ignominious defeat at the hands of Liverpool at Anfield. <PERSON> men went into the game flying high. They had just won the Carling Cup the previous week before following it with an impressive comeback win against West Ham.
On the other hand, Liverpool's season has been below par, and they went into the match still reeling from their abject 5-2 loss to Madrid on the same ground in the Champions League just a few days earlier.
The game started slowly, and the first noteworthy incident did not occur until late into the first half. Five minutes before the break, United drew the first blood, or so they thought. <PERSON> went down under a challenge from <PERSON>. <PERSON> headed home the ball from the ensuing free kick, but United players' celebrations were cut short by the linesman's flag.
A minute later, Liverpool's swift counterattack saw <PERSON> put the ball in the back of the net at the opposite end of the pitch. 910
From there, Liverpool’s dominance was never in doubt.
After the break, Liverpool looked invigorated. It didn't take long before they blew Manchester United away with two quickfire goals from <PERSON> and <PERSON>—<PERSON> leaving the dazed <PERSON> sprawling on the grass with his mesmerizing piece of skill to set up the latter.
<PERSON> was clearly in the mood, and he got the game’s fourth goal after another blistering Liverpool counterattack. <PERSON> and <PERSON> then got their braces to compound <PERSON> woes. There was still enough time for <PERSON>, who came off the bench, to add a seventh and seal an emphatic and memorable derby win for Liverpool.
It was an evening to forget for the entire United team, with the uncharacteristically misfiring <PERSON> hitting the side netting after rounding Liverpool's goalkeeper <PERSON>. <PERSON> threatened to reproduce the horrendous gaffe that set Liverpool on their way to doom against Madrid in the Champions League. However, there was to be no respite for the reds devils, and they went on to succumb to their joint heaviest defeat, having lost by the same scoreline in 1926 and 1930 to Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa respectively. 351