LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool brought Manchester United crashing down to earth in a stunning 7-0 rout in the Premier League at Anfield on Sunday.
Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah all struck twice and Roberto Firmino scored the other, with six of the goals coming in an explosive second-half performance.
A week after winning the League Cup, United experienced their heaviest defeat in the Premier League and the club’s joint worst loss in all competitions.
It also delivered a major blow to Erik ten Hag’s four-pronged pursuit of trophies, with a league title challenge now looking increasingly unlikely.
Liverpool, meanwhile, took advantage of losses for top four rivals Newcastle and Tottenham on Saturday to strengthen their own bid to qualify for the Champions League.
Salah became the Merseyside club’s all-time leading Premier League scorer with 129 goals.
Gakpo opened the scoring in the 43rd minute after Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford had missed chances to put United ahead.
Nunez struck in the 47th and Salah Gakpo made it 3-0 in the 50th.
With United looking to get back into the match, Liverpool went on the rampage.
Salah made it 4-0 in the 66th and Nunez struck again in the 75th.
It was 6-0 when Salah scored in the 83rd and Firmino stepped off the bench to score in the 88th.
Nottingham Forest 2, Everton 2
In Nottingham, Brennan Johnson’s hot streak continued as the Nottingham Forest forward scored twice to earn a 2-2 draw with Everton in the Premier League on Sunday.
The home team twice fought back to deny Everton and share the points at the City Ground, with Johnson making it five goals in his last seven league games.
First-half goals from Demarai Gray and Abdoulaye Doucoure had put Everton on course for a third win in six games under manager Sean Dyche.
But Johnson twice evened the score in a clash between two relegation-fighting teams.
The result meant Everton was denied the chance to climb out of the bottom three.
Gray put the visitors ahead with a 10th-minute penalty, but Johnson equalized in the 19th.
Doucoure then headed Everton back in front in the 29th to give his team a halftime lead and something to defend after the break.
Johnson, however, is enjoying an impressive run of form and struck again to make it 2-2.
The draw also ensured Forest’s unbeaten run at home extends to nine matches, with the team’s form at the City Ground likely to be a telling factor in whether it stays up this season.