It was a pure duck-shot for Liverpool and a fitting way to give Manchester United a scare ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final at Old Trafford.
Jurgen Klopp’s admirable side needed an abacus to keep count, figuratively speaking, after a goal fest heading into Friday’s quarter-final draw. Because when Kodi Gakpo scored his second goal in the 55th minute, it was 6-1 on the night and 11-2 after the game. totalling.
Mohamed Salah’s successful return to the eleven for the first time since New Year’s Day was headline news ahead of the cup match against United. His contribution: 1 goal and 3 assists, and the game ended. More reason for Erik ten Hag’s team to ponder their fate this weekend.
There was only one way Klopp could tell his men to play, and that was their usual stifling attacking mode. The first dividend came within six minutes as Brian Pliske’s men reeled. There will be three more in 15 minutes.
Darwin Nuñez’s opening goal was simple. Dominik Szoboszlai received a feed from the right and pulled the ball back for the number 9 to drive home.
Next up was a defensive horror show that started right off the kickoff. Ladislav Krejci lost the ball to Salah, found Bobby Clarke and the young midfielder beat Peter Bindal to score his first senior goal.
Seven-One quickly improved to 8-1 overall. This time, Jaroslav Zeleny was the culprit for the away team. In a role reversal, Clarke stripped his centre-back and brought on Salah, who headed home in style.
Already shocked and embarrassed, the Spartan’s mood quickly deteriorated. Salah was once again a contributor as the Czech champions lost. The Egyptian was given the age to play alongside the error-free Kodi Gakpo, who won 9-1 in the tie-over, and there is no doubt that United are enjoying this as much as their black players.
After a yawning 20 minutes, Windaal’s goal was once again under serious threat. Salah missed a shot and the ball wavered to Nunez, who slotted it in from close range, causing a cheer from Klopp. Inspired, Clark then approached and sold a dummy in the Spartan area that would allow Vindar to release the repulsed piledriver.
Salah ended the period clapping his hands in frustration at not being able to score more points. Pliske applauded Veljko Birmancevic’s shot and the midfielder was seen running through and beating Caoich Kelleher to the left of the Liverpool goalkeeper.
In the second half, Klopp replaced Joe Gomez, Nunez and Wataru Endo with Kostas Tsimikas, Harvey Elliott and James McConnell, and it soon became 5-1 on the night, with Szoboszlai scoring in the canter. . The No. 8 wandered toward goal along the diagonal on the inside right and fired a shot, the ball hitting Krejci, past Windaal on the left, and then again past assist man Salah.
“,”credit”:””}” config=”{“renderingTarget”:”Web”,”darkModeAvailable”:false}”>
quick guide
How do I sign up for breaking sports alerts?
show
- Download the Guardian app by searching for “The Guardian” in the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play Store on Android.
- If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re using the latest version.
- In the Guardian app, tap the menu button in the bottom right corner,[設定](gear icon),[通知]Move in this order.
- Turn on sports notifications.
The question was how long the Egyptian wizard could survive before Klopp removed him. There was enough time for Gakpo to flick past Bindal and witness Elliott’s power shot for the Dutchman to complete his hat-trick. As time wore on, Virgil van Dijk was introduced for Sunday’s M62 ascent, with Klopp brought on for Jarrell Quansah, but the German received a yellow card for sideline dissent. It had been. The coach greeted him with a smile as he headed to the bench and hugged Quansah, who was probably watching the game from his deck chair.
Klopp said it would be foolish to have second thoughts about stepping down. True – but he wouldn’t be a man if he didn’t secretly have second thoughts because of the vibrant team his successor inherits.
