Liverpool inflicted an emphatic five-goal humiliation on Manchester United.
Naby Keita opened the scoring on five minutes when he rolled the ball past David de Gea after good work between Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino.
The Reds doubled their lead just 10 minutes later as Trent Alexander-Arnold capitalised on the hosts’ poor defending to tee up Diogo Jota at the far post.
Salah compounded the misery of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side in the first half with a rifled a shot into the roof of David de Gea’s net from Keita’s delivery.
A second followed for the Egyptian deep into added time as he fired a low effort to hand Liverpool an incredible four-goal advantage at the interval.
For a second weekend running, Salah claimed a hat-trick with a well-timed run to meet Jordan Henderson’s pass before dinking the ball over De Gea.
United were later reduced to 10 men as Paul Pogba was dismissed for a reckless lunge on Keita, which saw the midfielder stretchered off as a result.
Here were the key talking points from Old Trafford:
Masterful Reds serve notice on title
For all their brilliance so far, this game was the moment when Liverpool finally served notice in their bid for a second Premier League title in three seasons.
Not since 1955 had Manchester United been trounced by five goals without reply on home soil, and arguably could have suffered a far greater humiliation.
From start to finish at Old Trafford, Jurgen Klopp’s side were simply flawless – masterful, even – as they put their beleaguered arch-rivals to the sword.
The Reds have enjoyed several memorable outings at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ in recent years but none can compare to this in terms of a total humiliation.
Little wonder that many home fans left their seats early in the second half, with Mohamed Salah’s hat-trick already completing an emphatic final score.
Klopp’s 200th win as Liverpool manager – the fastest in the club’s history to achieve the feat – set down a marker for what lies ahead in the title race.
On a weekend when Manchester City and Chelsea both racked up resounding statements of intent, it was only right that the German’s players followed suit.
Konate passes baptism of fire
Breaking up the formidable pairing of Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip seemed to be something which only injury or suspension to either could conceivably do.
Yet Klopp’s made a bold decision by dropping the Cameroon international in favour of handing Ibrahima Konate a first-ever domestic start at Old Trafford.
Facing an attack sprearheaded by an evergreen Cristiano Ronaldo is as close to a baptism of fire as the defender has faced in his fledgling Anfield career.
It started off ominously enough, with his error allowing Bruno Fernandes a sight at goal which United’s creative midfielder failing to take full advantage.
From then on, however, Konate produced a stellar display which extended to starting several Liverpool attacks by venturing out of his comfort zone.
The 22-year-old will come up against sterner challenges than a toothless United but this proved to be another comfortable bedding-in for ‘Ibou’.
Salah putting the league to shame
Just when it appears that no more can be said about Mohamed Salah, he finds another way to ensure he remains the focal point for another week.
The Egyptian continues to redefine standards with his hat-trick becoming the first in the Premier League era to be scored against the Red Devils at home.
His match ball clincher was a particular highlight for the well-timed run to meet Jordan Henderson’s pass as much as dinking the ball past David de Gea.
Not only that, Salah also became the highest-scoring African player in the top flight’s history while his exploits are continuing to put several sides to shame.
Clearly no player is bigger than a club but he has already plundered more goals this season than the combined tallies of seven top-flight outfits.
Had Arsenal not rediscovered their Midas touch in front of goal, the 29-year-old would have eclipsed their double-figure haul instead of simply equalling it.