Solsjkaer stunned by United's 'darkest day'

Historic 5-0 drubbing to Liverpool piles pressure on Norwegian

Of all Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's miserable moments as Manchester United manager, losing 5-0 to Liverpool felt the lowest.

Especially when it came at Old Trafford against United's greatest rival in the season when the team should be challenging for the title after so much more spending.

"This is the worst feeling," Solskjaer said. "You feel rock bottom."

Maybe all that is keeping Solskjaer in the job is the lack of chants aimed at him by United's fans. There were enough of those being directed his way by the visiting Liverpool fans, gloating as the goals flowed from the fifth minute.

"It is not easy to say something apart from it is the darkest day I have had leading these players," Solskjaer said.

"You can look at last season when we lost to Spurs 6-1, but this is miles worse for me as a Manchester lad."

In a telling indictment of United's capitulation, thousands of fans left Old Trafford well before full-time.

United is languishing in seventh place after a fourth successive league game without a win, a dismal streak that includes three defeats.

The pressure on Solskjaer will be intense in the coming days as the beleaguered Norwegian faces a fight to cling onto his job.

"It is going to be a difficult one. We know we are rock bottom, we can't feel any worse than this," Solskjaer said.

"I have come too far, we have come too far as a group. We are too close to give up now."

Naby Keita kicked off the rout and the porous United defense allowed Diogo Jota to score again in the 13th minute. Mo Salah picked up the scoring to net for a 10th consecutive game for Liverpool, with two before halftime. The Egyptian forward's hat-trick was completed five minutes into the second half.

"We have conceded too many goals, too many easy goals and that's a concern," Solskjaer said. "I am still thinking about tomorrow's work, I can't say now I have felt any worse than this."

Not even after losing to Tottenham 6-1 last October. Nine games into the season, the record 20-time English champion is already seven points behind Liverpool in second place with Chelsea a further point away in the lead.

United looks no closer to winning a first Premier League title since 2013. Even Jose Mourinho delivered the Europa League in 2017. His successor, Solskjaer, lost his only final in last season's Europa League but was still handed a new contract in July through 2024.

"It's not easy to say something apart from it's the darkest day I've had leading these players and we weren't good enough, individually and as a team," Solskjaer said. "You can't give a team like Liverpool those chances, unfortunately we did. The whole performance wasn't good enough, that's for sure. We've created openings, they've had chances and they've been clinical. We didn't take our chances early on and the third goal is the one that decided the game."

Although United finished second last season, Manchester City was 12 points in front for a fifth title in a decade.

"I do believe in myself. I do believe I'm getting close to where I want with the club," Solskjaer said. "Just the results lately haven't been good enough."

Next up for United is a trip to Tottenham on Saturday. Nuno Espirito Santo's side remains a point and place ahead of United after losing 1-0 to West Ham on Sunday when Michail Antonio got ahead of marker Harry Kane to score from a corner in the 72nd minute.

Liverpool remains the league's last unbeaten team as it looks to regain the Premier League trophy from Manchester City, which is a point behind.