Mohammed Salah scored a hat-trick as Liverpool beat United 5-0 at Old Trafford, a defeat that came under extreme pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after a 4-2 defeat to Leicester City last weekend
Bruno Fernandez showed his frustration at Old Trafford
In hindsight, this result was entirely predictable.
The Premier League's most lethal attack – Liverpool have scored 30 goals in their last nine games – have scored six goals in last week's matches and have maintained a goal-neutral defence for the past six months.
"That's what I said," Gary Neville said after Mohammed Salah beat Liverpool's fourth game, "and that's what's going to happen when they play the right team." If a semi-decent team scores so many goals against them, the right team will beat them up. ”
Still, the extent of the collapse is extraordinary. The Manchester United squad showed a knack for calling results when they needed it most, but this time it wasn't. Not when they allow an opponent to make a four-on-one attack in five minutes.
That opening goal, when Liverpool cut into United like a knife butter, and Nabi Keita slid home from Salah's pass, set the tone for the chaos that followed.
They were lucky not to be two goals behind in less than two minutes, when Scott McTominay and Fred joined forces to lose possession in their own defensive three-pointers - at least teamwork, though not the kind United wanted – Roberto Firmino fired directly at De Gia.
But Liverpool didn't wait long.
The second goal came just eight minutes after the first, another chaotic defensive performance. Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw lost their minds, and Trent Alexander-Arnold and Aaron Wan-Bissaka failed to track down the charging Diogo Jota.
The situation has gotten worse. Worse.
United conceded no goals for the next 25 minutes, but only conceded.
During that time, Firmino wasted a lot of shots from Keita's cross-section, and there was even the strange sight of Marcus Rashford trying to pass back from 10 yards inside Liverpool's half that sent Salah into the net.
De Gea denied the Egyptians on that occasion, but it summed up the surrealism of the occasion. Soon, the slaughter continued. Keita, like Alexander Arnold before him, has all the space he could possibly hope to play the third goal for Salah.
United did not learn. In fact, Liverpool's next goal, arriving before half-time and ensuring United trailed by four points at half-time for the first time in Premier League history, came from exactly the same place, and Salah simply chose his place.
The half-time whistle – boos from home fans – could have dampened any hope of United regrouping within minutes of resuming the game.
This time, it was substitute Paul Pogba who lost possession. After Jordan Henderson passed the ball, Salah was celebrating his hat-trick.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandez looked frustrated
"It's already bad," Neville said. "We all lost the football game in a bad way. Sir Alex Ferguson once lost 6-1 against Manchester City. I lost a game at Newcastle 5-0 away. But this is the essence of performance. They have surrendered. ”
Pogba's direct red card added to the stigma of the occasion, and it was equally regrettable that Liverpool were able to inflict such a brutal defeat on them in a team of underweight.
Their midfielders Henderson, Keita and James Milner were rightly described by Jamie Carragher as "craftsmen" – the away team even lost the latter with an injury just 27 minutes later – but they outperformed their opponents in every way.
Klopp put Sadio Mane on the bench, but by the time he was introduced, Liverpool had already scored five goals. He started centre-back Ibrahima Conat, the Frenchman was just his second Premier League starter, but United have barely tested him.
Pogba was shown a direct red card at Old Trafford
"What we're seeing is a team versus an individual," Carragher said.
The structure and organisation klopp has put in place ensures that Liverpool can lose personnel without losing their identity. But where is the structure and organization of this team at Manchester United? What are their identities under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer?
It's been almost three years since his appointment at Old Trafford, but there is still no clear answer to the question. A huge investment in one summer was supposed to take United to the next level, but it appeared to further disrupt the waters.
Cristiano Ronaldo sometimes covers cracks, but United don't look like a serious team in every passing game. They lost any superficial cohesion in the final third, but the problem was most pronounced at the other end – as they have been all season.
So far, only Watford, Newcastle, Leeds and Norwich have conceded more goals in the Premier League. No side has made more mistakes that led to a shot than United.
They were supposed to challenge for the title this season, but in the last two games they have put their opponents to work harder on their goals than City have done all season. On Sunday, they conceded more goals in 45 minutes at Old Trafford than City have conceded in 810 minutes since the start of the season.
The numbers strike Solskjaer grimly as he is tasked with shaping United's individual into a team and, worst of all, the historic defeat is actually entirely predictable. "It's already coming," Neville added. Solskjaer's next events are also becoming increasingly inevitable.
Picture of United defending the disaster squad
When Mohammed Salah scored in Naby Keita's opening goal, Liverpool found themselves four-on-one just minutes after the game started
Trent Alexander-Arnold stayed in space to allow Diogorotta to slide home to Liverpool's second goal from close range
Keita didn't have a United defender from 10 yards as he set salah's first goal of the afternoon and Liverpool's third
Salah once again took advantage of United's penalty area space to deliver Liverpool's fourth goal shortly before half-time
After Paul Pogba lost possession in midfield, Salah scored a hat-trick goal with undefended passes from Jordan Henderson
Manchester United's hard run
For Manchester United, it hasn't become much easier. Over the next six weeks they will face a series of tough games as they look to keep pace in the Premier League and secure Champions League qualification, while Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester derby are imminent at home.