Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah applauds fans as he walks off the pitch after being substituted.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Luis Diaz of Liverpool celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the Premier League match between Manchester United FC and Liverpool FC at Old Trafford on September 01, 2024 in Manchester, England.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Two goals from Luis Diaz and one from Mohamed Salah helped Liverpool stroll to a 3-0 victory at Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday, with Erik ten Hag’s side humbled by their fierce rivals.

Liverpool dominated a United team who could not keep pace with them in the first half, the visitors taking the lead in the 35th minute through a back-post header from Diaz after United midfielder Casemiro had given the ball away.

Casemiro was again at fault for Diaz and Liverpool’s second, again supplied by Mohamed Salah, with the Colombia international sweeping home three minutes before the break, sending United supporters off for their halftime refreshments early.

With United on the ropes, Liverpool smelled blood after the break, Salah adding a third 11 minutes into the second half, but the visitors settled for three as they maintained their 100% record this season under new coach Arne Slot.

“The goals are always self-inflicted,” United captain Bruno Fernandes told Sky Sports. “You need to commit a mistake to give them the goal. We don’t need to be pointing fingers at everyone. that won’t help us now.

“When you concede a goal you can’t just point at one mistake. We don’t have to look at the past. We just have to make it different. We lost the game, congratulations to Liverpool, they were more clinical. I don’t look at the stats but the game was tight.”

Concern for United

After a positive summer in the transfer market and fresh faces in the boardroom, last week’s last-gasp defeat at Brighton and Hove Albion gave United supporters a stark reminder of the improvements still needed on the pitch.

Sunday’s visit of a Liverpool side who had lost just one of their previous 12 Premier League meetings with United will have caused a great deal of concern pre-match.

Those more pessimistic fans were fearing the worst as Trent Alexander-Arnold appeared to have fired Liverpool into an early lead at Old Trafford, only for VAR to step in and save the hosts, adjudging Salah to be offside earlier in the move.

United settled into the contest without troubling Liverpool down the other end of the pitch, allowing the visitors to pick their moments when they came.

Casemiro’s mistakes

Casemiro’s wayward pass ensured the Slot’s side did not have to try too hard to unlock their rivals, Diaz applying the finishing touch to get Liverpool up and running.

Diaz’s third of the season was another fine finish, but another Casemiro will want to forget. The flying Liverpool forward has now scored more Premier League goals against United than any other opponent.

Yet another mistake in midfield, this time from Kobbie Mainoo, was ruthlessly punished by Salah in the second half, the Egyptian cementing his pace as the highest-scoring opposition player at Old Trafford in Premier League history — seven strikes.

The visitors thereafter cruised to a victory that means Slot is the first Liverpool manager to win his first meeting with United since Bob Paisley in November 1975, and just the second to do so away from home after George Kay in November 1936.

My last season at Liverpool: Salah

While other Liverpool players celebrated their resounding success, Salah stole the headlines with his post-match thoughts.

“I had a good summer, a long time to stay with myself and think positively a bit, this is my last year with the club and I want to enjoy it,” the 32-year-old told Sky Sports.

“I feel I am free to play football — we will see what happens next year. Nobody in the club has talked to me about contracts. It is not up to me, it is up to the club.”

When asked about Salah, Arne Slot responded: “There is a lot of ifs, but at this moment he is one of ours and I am really happy with him,” he said.

“I don’t talk about contracts. He was impressive, like the first two games but if you talk about an individual, you don’t do justice to the other ones.

File picture of Arne Slot coaching Dutch side Feyenoord. Slot replaces Jurgen Klopp as manager of Liverpool
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Arne Slot will take on one of the most daunting challenges in football by replacing Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager.

Slot was confirmed on Monday after he signed a long-term contract with the six-time European Cup winner and 19-time English champion.

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He will follow in the footsteps of an Anfield icon in Klopp, who ended Liverpool’s 30-year wait for the English title in 2020 and won a full set of major trophies in his time at the Merseyside club.

Slot comes in with a winning record of his own after leading Feyenoord to the Dutch title last year and following that with the Dutch Cup this season.

He will formally take up his role on June 1 and his contract runs through to 2027, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the details of the contract have not been made public.

Slot’s appointment was expected for some time, as the 45-year-old Dutchman said he was in talks with Liverpool in April and announced he would be Klopp’s successor last week.

Slot has coached Feyenoord since 2021 and was previously with AZ Alkmaar. His work with both clubs has seen his reputation rise for his coaching methods and achievements in a short time.

Klopp’s legacy

Klopp stunned the world of football when he declared in January he would step down at the end of the season. The German established himself as one of the finest managers of his generation.

He won the Champions League in 2019, the Premier League in 2020, and the English League Cup and FA Cup in 2022. He departed with one final trophy, the League Cup in February.

Under his watch, Liverpool also won the UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup and was a beaten finalist in two more Champions Leagues.

Liverpool took its time identifying Klopp’s successor.

Michael Edwards, its former sporting director, returned in March as chief executive of football for the club’s American owners Fenway Sports Group and led the search.

Edwards was a key figure in Klopp’s success — overseeing the signings of star players like Mohamed Salah, Alisson Becker, and Virgil van Dijk.

Liverpool fans can only hope he is as adept at identifying coaching talent after putting his faith in Slot.

Former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso was a leading contender for the job until he announced in March he was staying at Bayern Leverkusen after its unbeaten run to the German title.

Sporting Lisbon coach Ruben Amorim was among other potential candidates.