Jurgen Klopp closed in on a milestone win in sensational style as Mohamed Salah’s hat-trick inspired Liverpool to a 5-0 rout of Manchester United.
Matters look bleak for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with the pressure mounting on the United manager, who saw his team torn to shreds on Sunday.
Salah scored the Reds’ final three goals, having teed up Naby Keita’s opener, while Diogo Jota grabbed Liverpool’s second. Paul Pogba’s red card merely compounded United’s misery.
It was a momentous day for Liverpool and a dismal one for United. Stats Perform looks at the records that tumbled in an historic result.
Klopp closes in on double century
Taking charge of his 229th match as Liverpool manager in the Premier League, Klopp claimed his 198th victory as Reds boss in all competitions.
If including shoot-out victories, which Opta do not, Klopp has in fact already hit that mark.
He has also overtaken Rafael Benitez and Gerard Houllier (including matches as co-manager with Roy Evans) as the manager to have taken charge of the most games for the club in the top flight.
Klopp’s team look well set for a title tilt. They have scored 19 goals in their first five away matches in the Premier League this season.
In English top-flight history only two sides have scored more after five away games – Manchester City in 2011-12 (20) and United in 1907-08 (20).
3 – Mohamed Salah is the first away player to score a hat-trick at Old Trafford for over 18 years, since Ronaldo did so for Real Madrid back in April 2003 in the Champions League. Ballon. pic.twitter.com/E9kOIRThgF
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 24, 2021
Salah in dreamland
It has been some season so far for Salah, as he moved onto 10 Premier League goals with a gift-wrapped hat-trick.
He is the first away player to net a hat-trick at Old Trafford since Ronaldo Nazario did so for Real Madrid in April 2003, while he is only the second player to do so for Liverpool, after Fred Howe in 1936.
Salah’s goal tally in the Premier League now stands at 107, three clear of Didier Drogba as the highest-scoring African player in the competition’s history.
The 29-year-old has scored in 10 consecutive appearances for the Reds in all competitions. Since he joined the club prior to the 2017-18 campaign, he is the only Premier League player to score in 10 successive matches.
Solemn times for Solskjaer
United were 2-0 down inside 15 minutes for the first time, and 4-0 down at half-time for the first time in any Premier League game.
The Red Devils have only lost by a larger margin in this fixture in October 1895 when Liverpool beat them 7-1 at Anfield. It is their largest margin of defeat in this fixture when playing at home.
Liverpool are only the second team in English top-flight history to win consecutive away games by a margin of five or more goals without conceding themselves, after United in February-March 1960.
It is the first time United have lost by a margin of at least five goals at Old Trafford without scoring since they slumped to a 5-0 defeat to Man City in 1955.
7 – Manchester United received seven cards in their 5-0 defeat to Liverpool (six yellows, one red), their joint-most in a Premier League match, alongside the seven yellow cards they received against both Spurs and Chelsea in February and September 2008 respectively. Indiscipline. pic.twitter.com/ZbqH4DsHHM
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 24, 2021
Pogba’s calamitous cameo
Pogba had a 15-minute cameo to forget. He replaced Mason Greenwood at half-time, but was trudging down the tunnel on the hour mark after lunging in on Keita, who had to be taken off on a stretcher.
He had 20 touches, made 16 passes and was robbed of possession in the build-up to Salah’s hat-trick goal. It was one of five occasions he gave the ball away.
The France midfielder’s red card was the 17th in Premier League matches between Manchester United and Liverpool – the only fixture with more red cards in the competition is Everton vs Liverpool (22).
Cristiano Ronaldo also struggled to have an impact, despite a disallowed goal. The 36-year-old previously featured in a 5-0 defeat during his time at Real Madrid, to Barcelona in November 2010.
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