Liverpool were five goals to the good and one of their players was urging them forward, calling for more, looking for the sort of scoreline that could really humiliate a beleaguered Manchester United side who were already down to 10 men. It was, admittedly, hard for them to heed, or indeed hear, his instructions because Fabinho was not barking them from his usual position at the base of the midfield. Perhaps United should be relieved that he was injured, sat at home, shouting at the television.
“I wanted the team to attack more to try and score more goals because we had one more player,” Fabinho said. “But it was the moment where the team tried to control more of the game and to stabilise the ball. As a fan, I wanted the team to score more because it was a big opportunity to do a historic score at Old Trafford, but of course 5-0 was not bad.” Not bad, in his verdict, was still historic, Liverpool’s largest ever winning margin at United’s home.
