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A Luis Diaz brace and a classy Mohamed Salah finish sent Liverpool joint-top of the Premier League with a resounding 3-0 win over Manchester United.
The visitors thought they had taken the lead in the seventh minute when Trent Alexander-Arnold finished from close-range, only for the goal to be ruled out as Salah was offside in the build-up. However, a quickfire double in the 35th and 42nd minute from Diaz, off the back of delicious assists from Salah, put the Reds in control at the break.
The boos began to ring out at Old Trafford as Salah swept in Dominik Szoboszlai’s pass in the 56th minute and, on another day, they could have won by six or seven. Liverpool are now level on points with Manchester City at the top of the table with three wins from three for Arne Slot with the Reds.
GOAL rates Liverpool’s players from Old Trafford…
Goalkeeper & Defence
Alisson (7/10):
Pulled off a great reaction stop from Noussair Mazraoui to preserve their one-goal advantage shortly before the break and was alert to keep out a couple of Joshua Zirkzee’s effort in the second half.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (7/10):
Other than being burned by Marcus Rashford early on, the England man was composed at the back and showed off his array of impressive passing and attacking skills.
Ibrahima Konate (9/10):
Pace, power, and guile. On this form, the Frenchman should keep his place in the starting line-up for a while yet. He swept up all danger that came his way with apparent ease.
Virgil van Dijk (8/10):
The veteran was rarely troubled by United forward Joshua Zirkzee and popped up with some great interceptions and clearances when required.
Andrew Robertson (7/10):
Had some good tussles with Alejandro Garnacho, with the Scottish international largely coming out on top of those duels with the winger.
Midfield
Ryan Gravenberch (8/10):
The Dutchman is really settling in nicely to his number six role. The rangy midfielder pulled off a number of piercing driving runs from deep and looked a threat in attack as well.
Alexis Mac Allister (7/10):
Helped Liverpool win the midfield battle as the Argentine got stuck in and did some of the dirty work for Slot’s team.
Dominik Szoboszlai (7/10):
Wasn’t as influential as some of his team-mates at Old Trafford but allowed Liverpool’s midfield to tick along nicely. Set up Salah’s goal nicely but spurned a great chance late on to make it 4-0.
Attack
Mohamed Salah (9/10):
The 32-year-old didn’t have too many chances of his own in the first half, but his world-class touch and distribution beautifully set up Diaz twice. Then, he popped up with a classy finish into the corner to cap off an excellent performance from the Egyptian.
Diogo Jota (7/10):
His movement and directness proved too hot to handle at times, as he complemented his fellow attackers well.
Luis Diaz (9/10):
Despite losing the ball on multiple occasions in the opening 45, the Colombian took his two goals with aplomb – with the second in particular started and finished by the 27-year-old. He was linked with an Anfield exit this summer but they will be glad they retained his services.
Subs & Manager
Cody Gakpo (6/10):
Didn’t offer a huge amount when he came on but the job was already done.
Darwin Nunez (7/10):
Nearly scored at the death with a nice curling effort.
Conor Bradley (7/10):
Looked energetic and threatening when introduced into the action.
Konstantinos Tsimikas (7/10):
Was up against the tricky Amad Diallo but stood his ground when it mattered.
Player (N/A):
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Arne Slot (8/10):
The former Feyenoord boss has got this team purring in what was Liverpool’s best game under the new Reds manager. While United were poor, the Reds ruthlessly exposed their shortcomings and their game management was top-notch.
