Last night’s Super Sunday fixture saw Liverpool welcome Manchester United to Anfield, for a game destined to go down as a Premier League classic.
Fresh off their Carabao Cup triumph, Erik Ten Hag’s side headed into the game as favorites.
Liverpool, on the other hand, had endured a roller-coaster run of form, and as a result, the home side had the odds stacked against them.
The match itself saw an action-packed first half.
Roared on by Anfield, Liverpool were characteristically energetic in the opening phase, and aside from knitting up some half-chances, they also dominated possession during the first 45.
In contrast, United held on well in defence and found joy during transitions, midfielder Casemiro even had the ball in the net on one occasion, only for it to be ruled out for offside.
The Reds’ rampant running paid off right near the end of the half, as Cody Gakpo’s well-placed finish gave them the lead.
While most people expected the second half to be a similarly tight affair, the Football Gods had other plans, as the game flipped on its head in every sense of the word.
Liverpool managed to capitalize on a seemingly endless stream of sloppy mistakes from the Red Devils while being incredibly lethal on the counter.
It kicked off with Darwin Nunez adding Liverpool’s second just 2 minutes into the second half and ended with Roberto Firmino making it seven for the home side.
After the full-time whistle, the board read 7-0, and the unbelievable scoreline wasn’t even the only reason for the Kop’s elation.
Liverpool’s 5-star performance will forever be tied to a vintage display from Mohamed Salah, as the Egyptian was at his imperious best all throughout the game.
The 30-year-old was directly involved in 4 out of 7 goals, scoring 2 himself while providing the assist for the others. He also tracked back on occasions to fulfil his defensive responsibilities, Salah truly looked like a man possessed.
There was plenty to rave about in his performance, but the moment Football Twitter seems to be obsessed with has all to do with Salah’s incredible footwork that floored Lisandro Martinez.
The moment came in the build-up to Liverpool’s third, as Martinez found himself 1v1 against Salah on the wing.
The Egyptian drew in Martinez and faked a cut inside before taking the ball into his stride once again.
The manoeuvre bamboozled the Argentine, he even turned his back on Salah out of sheer bewilderment, only to turn back around and see the forward fake a cut-back once again.
On this occasion, the 25-year-old clattered onto the turf having lost all his balance, he then hopelessly watched on as Salah tapped the ball forward to Gakpo who produced a deft finish.
The moment became a viral clip the second it hit Twitter, the sheer audacity of Salah’s skill and the embarrassment it caused Martinez have turned it into a sensation.
— LFC Transfer Room (@LFCTransferRoom) March 6, 2023
Fans online found it especially amusing given the Argentine’s nickname ‘The Butcher’, and in truth, they had been waiting for ages to finally troll the United fan-favourite.
As the floodgates opened, an absolute meme fest followed, and Martinez became the subject of some ruthless roasting.
I still can’t get over Salah sending Martinez on Strictly Come Dancing 😩
The way Lisandro Martinez got spun by Mo Salah 😭 with that hair i was seeing brown, black, brown, black 😂 he died like Argentinian Duracell battery #LIVMUN
— EXPRESSIONS OOZING (@ExpressionsOOZ) March 5, 2023
The image of his back turned to Salah didn’t help either, as it gave the impression that the centre-back was quite literally running away from Salah.
Salah’s dribble is going straight into the catalogue of other classics, such as Messi doing Boateng or Hazard doing Zabaleta.
The audacious effort ended up being the icing on the cake for the forward, as the primary takeaway for him was undoubtedly the record-breaking goal that saw him become Liverpool’s all-time top scorer in the Premier League.
