Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp hailed his side's 7-0 demolition job of Manchester United as one of the Reds' best Premier League performances in a "long, long time".
The German coach witnessed his relentless crop tear the Red Devils to shreds on the Anfield turf, although they only boasted a 1-0 lead at the break through Cody Gakpo.
Man United were not without their opportunities in the first half, but the Red Devils imploded in the second 45 as Liverpool added another six goals to their extraordinary tally.
Gakpo completed his brace alongside doubles for Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah, whose second goal saw him become Liverpool's all-time leading Premier League goalscorer on 129 strikes.
Finally, Roberto Firmino - who is now confirmed to be leaving Liverpool when his deal expires in the summer - completed the rout with the Reds' seventh goal, as Klopp's merciless team rose to fifth in the Premier League table.
© Reuters
Having watched Liverpool humiliate their long-time adversaries amid an otherwise dismal season, Klopp unsurprisingly hailed Sunday's romping as one of the best Reds matches that he has overseen for a while, and he also paid a special tribute to history-maker Salah.
"Freak result, top performance. A really top performance from the start, I thought the way we started the game was really special, the best for a long, long, long, long, long, long time," Klopp said in his post-game press conference.
"I don't think the second half could start better with the two goals we forced there pretty much and from that moment on the boys were flying. Then it was really difficult to play against us and how I said, the performance is important, three points is even more important, and the result is just the result.
"It was one of the best performances for a long, long time. In a way I think everybody saw how good the boys can be. We didn't speak yet [about it] but Mo Salah achieved tonight something really, really special.
"We should not forget that just because we are used to him scoring a lot of goals. Very special, very special player, very special boy and should be really proud of that."
© Reuters
Klopp's team now sit just three points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur with a game in hand, but the 55-year-old is taking nothing for granted heading into next weekend's clash with Bournemouth, who went 2-0 up at leaders Arsenal on Saturday before falling to a heart-breaking 3-2 defeat.
"I don't know, does anybody know when we won against Bournemouth 9-0 how the next result was? We won [against Newcastle]? So, that's good - but in the last second, right? It was a completely different game, but a fantastic game. Our goal difference doesn't look like we won one game 9-0 and one game 7-0, to be 100 per cent honest," Klopp added.
"Now we have five days or so of time to prepare for Bournemouth; they were unlucky yesterday against Arsenal not to get a point at least. We have to make sure we are ready for that fight."
Meanwhile, former Manchester United defender Gary Neville launched a scathing attack on Red Devils captain Bruno Fernandes, taking aim at the Portuguese for his "embarrassing" performance.
No Data Analysis info