They came lamenting the imminent loss of one of their favourite number nines.
Come full-time, though, Anfield had fully embraced the man signed as his successor on an afternoon that will forever be etched in the annals of Liverpool’s long, glorious history.
Beating Manchester United is good no matter how the manner. But to inflict such an absolute humiliation on their most bitter rivals – this 7-0 destruction equalling United’s heaviest-ever defeat – will resonate for years, decades to come.
