Liverpool reasserted its dominance over Manchester United on Sunday by beating its great rival 3-0 on Sunday as Mohamed Salah enjoyed another dreamy visit to Old Trafford.
For United's Casemiro, it was nothing short of a nightmare.
Salah scored for the seventh straight game at Old Trafford and also provided two first-half assists for Luis Diaz in United’s latest humiliation at the hands of its fiercest opponent in what is historically the biggest match in English soccer.
When it was put to Salah that it was an easy game for Liverpool, he replied: “I agree with you. I was a little surprised. The game could have finished five or six."
Make that 15 goals in all competitions for Salah against United since he joined Liverpool in 2017, and he was regaled with songs by the vocal visiting contingent in the final moments of a one-sided match.
By that time, Casemiro was off the field — and maybe wondering what his future holds at United.
The 32-year-old Brazil midfielder was at fault for both of Diaz’s goals — first because of a sloppy pass, and then after being dispossessed — and he was substituted at halftime for a 20-year-old rookie in Toby Collyer.
His performance came two days after United spent $55 million on Manuel Ugarte, a Uruguay defensive midfielder who arrived from Paris Saint-Germain as likely the long-term replacement for Casemiro.
That was part of a summer outlay of $240 million by United after deciding to keep Erik ten Hag as manager, despite a disappointing eighth-place finish in the Premier League last season.
On this evidence, nothing has changed for the team that was once the biggest in Europe but which hasn't won the league since 2013, the last season of Alex Ferguson.
United has lost two of its three league games so far this season, winning the other one — against Fulham — thanks to a late goal.
Still, the United manager remained confident about the season.
“Many games to play and I know where we will be at the end of the season,” Ten Hag said. “We will go for trophies, that will stand.”
In contrast, Liverpool has won all three matches without conceding a goal. It's quite the start to life at Anfield for Arne Slot, with Liverpool enjoying a seamless transition after nine trophy-laden years with Jurgen Klopp.
“This was my first big win,” Slot said. “They showed me in the last weeks that they can work so hard. We were so dominant with the ball.”
The only other team with nine points from nine is defending champion Manchester City.
The win would have given Liverpool extra satisfaction because the team's season was ruined at Old Trafford in the 2023-24 campaign, after losing in the FA Cup quarterfinals and dropping vital points in the league title run-in.
The season before, Liverpool beat United 7-0 at Anfield while it enjoyed 4-0 and 5-0 wins over United in the 2021-22 season.
CHELSEA HELD
Spending hundreds of millions of dollars on new players is proving no guarantee of victories for Chelsea, either.
A 1-1 home draw with Crystal Palace meant Chelsea has won just one of its first three league matches this season — even if that was a 6-2 rout of Wolverhampton last weekend.
Eberechi Eze’s fine curling shot from the edge of the area in the 53rd minute secured a point for Palace, which spent most of the summer transfer window desperately trying to keep its best players. Eze fits into the category.
Chelsea, on the other hand, brought in 12 players — at a cost of around $290 million — in the latest huge outlay by its American investors. Only one new signing, Pedro Neto, started against Palace at Stamford Bridge and it was two players signed last year who combined for the 25th-minute opener as Nicolas Jackson tapped in from Cole Palmer’s pass.
Chelsea has four points from a possible nine, having opened the season by losing to Manchester City, and manager Enzo Maresca said “the direction is the correct one” for his team.
“Probably one thing that has to be clear: Chelsea three years ago won the Champions League but now it is not that kind of Chelsea," he said. "So now sometimes if you don't win, it is normal.”
NEWCASTLE SNATCHES WIN
Newcastle beat Tottenham 2-1 — and stayed unbeaten on seven points — thanks to a 78th-minute winner by Alexander Isak that came against the run of play at St. James' Park.
Dan Burn's own-goal in the 56th brought Spurs back into the match after Harvey Barnes' strike in the 37th.
Tottenham dominated the second half, hitting the crossbar off Pedro Porro's deflected cross and seeing James Maddison force a great save out of Nick Pope, before conceding off a simple ball through the heart of the defense. Jacob Murphy ran through and played a pass across to Isak, who couldn't miss in front of an empty goal from inside the six-yard box.
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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer