As the goals flew in, no one could believe what they were seeing.
Records were tumbling left, right and centre. Reputations were destroyed and made in 90 minutes of a crazy, madcap match which for those at Anfield will never be forgotten. By the final whistle, the away end was virtually empty and Liverpool ’s fans were celebrating the most remarkable victory.
It was Manchester United’s heaviest defeat in Premier League history. Mohamed Salah, who was outstanding even in a game filled with brilliant Liverpool performances, became his club’s record Premier League goalscorer.
But more than that, it was a statement result which perhaps shows Liverpool have not fallen as far behind as we thought. And maybe Manchester United have not made as much progress under Erik ten Hag as we thought.
You could dismiss it as a freak result - but not when Liverpool play so well. This was a throwback to Liverpool at their swashbuckling best, Jurgen Klopp’s team capable of tearing opponents apart.
And not when United threw in the towel so badly. This will be a result which humiliates and shames Ten Hag and his players. The way some of them gave up in the last half an hour was not befitting a club of the stature of Manchester United.
Yes, they have played a lot of games, but talk of a quadruple looks utterly ridiculous afer they simply did not turn up at Anfield. They were pathetic, outclassed and outfought. This was supposed to be a heavyweight clash but the reality was that one corner had a world champion and the other had a washed up, punch-drunk loser.
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Quite how United can go from winning the Carabao Cup last week as the start of a dynasty of success under Ten Hag to this is anyone’s guess. And this might just be the result which instills the belief in Liverpool’s players that they can still finish in the Champions League places as they are left just three points behind Tottenham with a game in hand.
The goalscorers - Salah, Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez all got two each each - will get the headlines, but the best stat of the day was it was the fifth time Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and Harvey Elliott have started together. They have now won all five, scoring 28, conceding just two.
Liverpool might have found a formula for their problem department. The home side started well but United were playing well when they fell behind after 43 minutes. Andy Robertson’s sublime slide-rule pass played in Gakpo and he calmly steered the ball into the far corner.
Two minutes after half-time, Liverpool took full control. Luke Shaw’s sloppy pass started a comedy of errors before Elliott’s cross set up Nunez to score from point blank range. Three minutes later, Salah took centre stage. The Egyptian king danced his way forward, put Lisandro Martinez on his backside and then played in Gakpo who dinked the ball past United keeper David de Gea for a beautiful finish. It was the pick of the goals.
Salah got in on the act himself when he lashed home after 66 minutes after more chaos in the United defence. It was 5-0 after 76 minutes after Henderson put in a lovely cross and Nunez glanced a header into the far post. Salah then scored his record breaking 129th Premier League goal for Liverpool after 83 minutes, surpassing Robbie Fowler.
Salah ripped off his shirt to celebrate, but he still had time to set up substitute Roberto Firmino, who got the seventh with a low shot through De Gea’s legs. Humiliation at one end. Delight and disbelief at the other.
