Liverpool achieved a historic victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford four years ago, with Naby Keita scoring the opening goal and defeating the desperate Red Devils by five points.
One of Liverpool’s great days in recent years came at Old Trafford in October 2021, when they edged out arch-rivals Manchester United for five stars.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were left reeling as the hosts feared the worst and by half-time the Reds were leading 4-0. The first of those goals was scored by Naby Keita, before Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah converted the ball into the Manchester goal. United’s weaknesses were well exposed and Liverpool were able to exploit them regularly.
They cut through Liverpool with ease, with Keita running in front of goal and past David de Gea to begin the rout. The away side sang a song mocking manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær. Anfield icon Kenny Dalglish grinned from the stands.
Keita joined Liverpool in 2018 to great fanfare. The Reds spent a then club record £54 million to sign him from RB Leipzig and the Guinean was loved by the Reds on Merseyside despite being plagued by injuries.
He previously told the Guardian: “Liverpool fans have given me so much love and they still show me the same love wherever I see them. They are the best fans in the world. Liverpool are a family and will never be the same. I never walk alone. My goal was to fulfill my childhood dream of winning the title. The Liverpool fans gave me a lot of love.”
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“Winning the Premier League for the first time in 30 years, winning the Champions League, these are great moments that will never be forgotten. We won many trophies and made the fans happy. That was the most important thing. This team was hungry. We wanted to win every game, but we were lucky to have a manager in Jurgen Klopp who pushed us to do our best on the pitch. He is a great manager and was the strength of this group.”
Keita, who wore Steven Gerrard’s famous No. 8 shirt at Liverpool, was part of the team that won the title in 2019/20. Their quality was often evident, and only Manchester City’s superior teams prevented them from winning further titles. They reached 92 points that year after defeating the Red Devils, but lost out on the league title on the final day against City.
Keita, still only 30, left Liverpool in 2023 after another near miss in the title race. As his playing time began to decline, he opted to return to Germany, where he first made a name for himself, Werder Bremen. As he himself admits, his move did not go as expected, but the motivation behind it was correct.
“I had the option of extending my stay at Liverpool, but after five years I would have liked to have gotten more playing time elsewhere,” he admitted. “I had several offers, but I decided to sign with Bremen because Germany is a country I already know. I was also convinced by the words of the Bremen coach and management.”
“I just wanted to play football, go out on the pitch and make passes and score goals. If I wanted the money, I would have chosen to sign somewhere other than Bremen. What motivated me here was just to have the opportunity to play every weekend and enjoy myself and give myself joy. Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned.”
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