Slot, Liverpool humiliate Ten Hag and Manchester United

          Slot, Liverpool humiliate Ten Hag and Manchester United

                          Slot, Liverpool humiliate Ten Hag and Manchester United

MANCHESTER, England -- Arne Slot extended his 100% winning start as Liverpool manager with a 3-0 victory against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday, putting manager Erik ten Hag under renewed pressure at the club.

Two first-half goals from Luis Díaz -- Trent Alexander-Arnold also had a first-half goal ruled out for offside by VAR -- and a second-half goal from Mohamed Salah sealed an easy win for Liverpool, who moved to joint top of the Premier League alongside Manchester City on nine points. United's defeat was their second in three league games this season, and sees Ten Hag's side go into the international break with question marks over their ability to challenge for Champions League qualification after spending more than £180 million on new players over the summer.

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Ten Hag humiliated by Slot

Ten Hag, who is now entering his third season as Manchester United manager, was humiliated by Slot, who was serving just his third game as Liverpool boss. The buildup to this game was dominated by the story of the two Dutch coaches who have made the transition from the Eredivisie to take charge of the Premier League's two biggest clubs, but it was Slot who looked more like a manager who has been in charge for years, rather than Ten Hag.

Last season's FA Cup win against Manchester City at Wembley kept Ten Hag in a job at Old Trafford, but all of the issues that threatened his position last year resurfaced in the defeat against Liverpool.

For too long under Ten Hag, United have been overrun in midfield, have lacked threat up front and also struggled with their full-backs. Some of that can be put down to personnel, but the players have changed over time and the problems have not gone away.

Casemiro's disastrous 45 minutes

Casemiro has two years left on his contract at Old Trafford, but this may go down as the day his Manchester United career ended.

As the first half drew to a close -- Liverpool leading 2-0 -- the Brazilian humped a hopeful ball forward to nobody in particular. There were loud groans in the stands, and Garnacho, the nearest United player to it, threw out his arms in frustration.

It was the last act of a truly dreadful performance with Ten Hag deciding at the break that Casemiro couldn't be allowed to continue. In his place, 20-year-old Toby Collyer was thrown on for his first competitive appearance. Really, Ten Hag wanted to use Manuel Ugarte, the £50 million signing from Paris Saint-Germain who was watching from the directors' box.

Ugarte, the fiery defensive midfielder, was presented on the pitch before kickoff but wasn't registered in time to play. After Casemiro's horror show, it's probably safe to say he'll be involved when United play next against Southampton after the international break.

In just 45 minutes, Casemiro managed to lose possession 13 times and make two mistakes directly leading to goals. First, he gifted the ball to Ryan Gravenberch in midfield in the build-up to Díaz's first goal. Then, he was dispossessed on the edge of his own penalty area moments before Díaz swept in Salah's cross for No. 2. In between, there was mistake after mistake and one throw-in that bounced off his shin and back out of play.

It was a performance that will live long in the memory -- for all the wrong reasons. -- Rob Dawson

Salah haunts United again

Salah has now scored in his past five Premier League games for Liverpool at Old Trafford. No other player in the Premier League era has scored so regularly against Manchester United on their home turf.

It wasn't just Salah's second-half goal that marked his performance for Liverpool, though. He also created the first goal for Díaz and was close to scoring a second within a minute of making it 3-0.

The 32-year-old said after the game that this will be his last season at Liverpool with his contract due to expire in the summer. Plenty can happen between now and May, so it would be foolish to discount the prospect of Liverpool and Salah thrashing out a new contract.