LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool brought Manchester United crashing down to earth in a stunning 7-0 rout in the Premier League at Anfield on Sunday.
Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah all struck twice and Roberto Firmino scored the other, with six of the goals coming in an explosive second-half performance.
The defeat was Erik ten Hag's heaviest as United manager and seriously hampered his four-pronged pursuit of trophies, with a Premier League title challenge now looking increasingly unlikely.
Liverpool, meanwhile, took advantage of losses for top four rivals Newcastle and Tottenham on Saturday to strengthen its own bid to qualify for the Champions League.
Gakpo opened the scoring in the 43rd minute after Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford had missed chances to put United ahead.
Nunez struck in the 47th and Salah Gakpo made it 3-0 in the 50th.
With United looking to get back into the match, Liverpool went on the rampage.
Salah made it 4-0 in the 66th and Nunez struck again in the 75th.
It was 6-0 when Salah scored in the 83rd and Firmino stepped off the bench to score in the 88th.
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James Robson, The Associated Press
