Liverpool humiliates Manchester United with 7-0 rout in English Premier League

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool brought Manchester United crashing down to earth in a stunning 7-0 rout at Anfield on Sunday.

Only a week after winning the League Cup, United experienced its heaviest defeat in the Premier League and the club's joint worst loss in all competitions.

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.

It also delivered a major blow to Erik ten Hag's four-pronged pursuit of trophies, with a 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.

Salah became the Merseyside club's all-time leading Premier League scorer with 129 goals.

Liverpool may have endured a frustrating campaign so far as Jurgen Klopp's side has struggled for consistency but Anfield was in raptures at the sight of fierce rival United being humbled on Merseyside.

To add to that, the gap to fourth-place Tottenham is down to three points, with Liverpool still having a game in hand.

While Liverpool eyed the top four, United knew anything other than a win would be a huge blow to its challenge for the title after Arsenal's late 3-2 victory against Bournemouth on Saturday.

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