Liverpool versus Manchester United, one of, if not the most storied rivalry in English football, has been around for 129 years. There’ve been a lot of memorable games and stories in those years, but none compare to what we got this past Sunday. Undoubtedly the biggest win this season for Liverpool, their 7-0 drubbing of Manchester United was the last thing anyone was expecting.

The scoreline goes down as the biggest margin of victory in the historic fixture and the worst defeat in all of Manchester United’s history. Before Sunday, United had been riding a better wave of form, coming off their advancement in the Europa League after eliminating Barcelona, winning the Carabao Cup against Newcastle, and mounting a comeback in the FA Cup against West Ham most recently. These triumphs raised whether the Premier League was becoming a three-horse race.

While Liverpool had seen some promising flashes of potential, it always appeared like they had a hiccup coming at some point. Inconsistency has been the theme for the Reds, starting from their back-to-back wins against Newcastle and Everton. They were then embarrassed by Real Madrid at Anfield in the Champions League and dropped more points at Crystal Palace. They got a victory against Wolves before facing United, but it just seemed like there were no flaws in United’s game that Liverpool could expose.

Once the game started, it was clear that both teams weren’t holding back. United had some chances through Antony and Rashford that tested Alison, but that’s as close as they got on the day. Liverpool had good build-ups, but that clinical touch was missing to threaten David de Gea until the 43rd minute when Andy Robertson played a perfect through ball to Cody Gakpo, who took one touch inside to open up a space big enough to slot his shot past De Gea, who could do nothing but watch it go by.

That goal was the catalyst to Liverpool’s second half because a goal by either team right before halftime is massive. Especially in this type of game and atmosphere, they got the home fans more into the game, and many would say that United was the dominant team in that first half. To be so dominant and be down 1-0 at halftime was a killer for the players.

The second half was almost like a different game. United were unrecognizable from the whistle and made too many mistakes. The chemistry was lacking, and anyone could have noticed from their body language that they weren’t fully there anymore.

Two minutes into the second half Darwin Nunez got his head on a cross from Harvey Elliot to make it 2-0. And in a flash, Salah dribbled down the right-hand side and knocked Lisandro Martinez down before finding the feet of Gakpo, who calmly chipped his shot over de Gea and gave Liverpool a three-goal advantage in five minutes.

The scoreline may take people’s attention away from Mohamed Salah’s historic night. His first goal made the score 4-0, but it tied his goal mark with Robbie Fowler for the most goals scored for Liverpool in Premier League games.

Salah and Fowler were tied for the next 17 minutes in the game until Salah added his second goal to take his tally to 129 goals in the Premier League and break that tie with Fowler. It also made Salah the first player in Liverpool’s history to score in five consecutive league games against United.

So where do both teams go from here? To say this defeat brought United back to earth is an understatement. Erik Ten Hag shared his thoughts after the game:

Still a game behind Manchester City, United finds themselves nine points behind second place and 14 points behind first-place Arsenal. It may be a hard pill to swallow, but this team can’t afford to dwell on this loss because they are hosting a top-five side in Spain in Real Betis for the first leg of the Round of 16 in the Europa League. They can win one of two more trophies if they don’t let this historic loss collapse the progress they have made since the arrival of Ten Hag.

As for Liverpool, the victory brought them up to fifth place in the Premier League and three points behind Tottenham for the last Champions League spot with a game in hand. It’s no secret that getting top four is the primary goal at this point of the season.

Already eliminated from the FA Cup, they seem unlikely to go to Real Madrid and flip the tie in the Champions League against Real Madrid. However, if Jürgen Klopp can get more chemistry among his front three, plus the addition of Luis Diaz, and the summer overhaul they keep mentioning, this team can certainly challenge anyone next season.