'The Swiss magician bearing gifts' – the media on 3-1 win

Xherdan Shaqiri came off the bench to score twice after Sadio Mane’s opener was cancelled out by Jesse Lingard.

Here is what the media made of another excellent victory...

James Pearce, Liverpool Echo

Christmas came early at Anfield. Liverpool returned to the top of the Premier League tree in the best possible fashion by humbling their arch-rivals. Jose Mourinho has made a habit of spoiling the party in recent years but not this time. Not even close. The scoreline massively flattered Manchester United. But for the heroics of David de Gea and the wobble the Reds endured after Alisson Becker's howler enabled Jesse Lingard to cancel out Sadio Mane's opener, this would have been an absolute annihilation. The gulf in class was immense as Jürgen Klopp savoured securing the league scalp of United for the first time. Mourinho, who hadn't tasted defeat at Anfield since 2007, tried to park the bus, but this time it got blown away by the Liverpool juggernaut. The unbeaten Reds, enjoying the best start to a top-flight season in the club's history, had an eye-watering 36 attempts on goal to United's six. Ultimately, Kopites were indebted to their little Swiss magician who came bearing gifts. Shaqiri deservedly basked in the glory of being Liverpool's match-winner after making a remarkable impact off the bench. He struck twice in the space of seven minutes to wreck United's grim attempts to cling on for a point. The depth of Klopp's squad has been crucial. Joe Gomez, Joel Matip, Trent Alexander-Arnold and James Milner have picked up injuries but others have stepped up and delivered. Fabinho was the best player on the pitch against United as he bossed the midfield and Nathaniel Clyne could hold his head high after making his first Premier League start since May.

Neil Jones, Goal.com

“Santa is a Liverpool fan,” read the scarf on sale outside the Kop. How apt. This was the gift every Red wanted. Christmas is a time for bargains, but you won’t find many better than the man who won this match for Liverpool. Shaqiri’s his name. Super sub, difference maker, Anfield hero. One of the signings of the season, surely. What a contribution this was from the £13.5million man, whose quick-fire double off the bench fired Klopp’s men back to the top of the Premier League table, and left Mourinho wondering why they call it the season of good will to all. How the home fans enjoyed the Manchester United boss’ misery here. Shaqiri, introduced 20 minutes from time for a toiling Naby Keita, needed just three minutes to break open a game that was finely-poised at 1-1. He needed just seven more to put the seal on things for Liverpool. Two shots, two deflections, two goals. Seven goals from subsititutes for Liverpool this season, five in 17 appearances for Shaqiri since his arrival. Three points for the men in red, whose persistence was rewarded with a first league win over United since March 2014. It was an emphatic one in the end, too. The 3-1 scoreline told only half the tale. Liverpool had 36 shots to United’s six, they forced 13 corners to the visitors’ two and had 65 per cent possession. The gulf between the sides, spoken about before the game, was patently evident on the field. Even Mourinho can see that these are teams heading in very different directions. After 17 games, the gap between the sides is 19 points. It still needed Shaqiri, though, to get the job done for the Reds here. Luck was on his side with the deflections off first Ashley Young and then Eric Bailly, but when Liverpool looked for a game-changer, the Swiss international stepped up. Games like this create heroes, after all, and the 27-year-old’s contribution was a decisive one. Klopp made straight for him at the final whistle, the familiar bear hug saying everything. A big win for Liverpool, who can guarantee Christmas No.1 with a victory at Wolves on Friday.

David Lynch, Evening Standard

For 72 minutes, it looked like Mourinho was getting exactly the game he wanted for the third season in a row at Anfield. Liverpool had conspired to throw away the cushion of a first league goal against Manchester United since 2015 and were doing much huffing and puffing in their bid to get back in front. Enter Shaqiri. The Reds No.23 was brought on to provide the impetus and composure his side had so lacked in the preceding minutes and was a deserved matchwinner - even if he had the help of two deflections. And, ultimately, his transformative contribution turned a good week into a great one for Liverpool. Into the Champions League last 16 and now top of the Premier League with a win over their greatest rivals. It doesn’t get much better than that. Shaqiri began his Liverpool career in perfect fashion with a goal against Manchester United, and his stock among supporters has continued to rise ever since. The Swiss’ brace here came courtesy of two huge deflections, but there’s no doubt he enjoyed both more than his brilliant pre-season overhead kick in Ann Arbor. That’s three Kop-end goals already for the summer signing from Stoke City, who remains underrated in some quarters as a result of his bargain transfer fee. After two more goals against Mourinho’s men, however, it looks like the secret is finally out.

Simon Hughes, Independent

This is an era in football when the underappreciation of a moment, a period or a person involved is recognised and suddenly, there is room for overstatement to travel far. Maybe nowhere more so is this likely to be found than in Liverpool, not least because this is where a manager was brought in because it was believed he would be able to harness the emotion of the club and the city but also because of the yearning that exists there, and the time that has passed since the delivery of inner-most desires. It is fair to say these are unprecedented months in Liverpool’s modern history because of the way they have risen to the summit of the Premier League: the way they are winning games; the way they are recovering from set-backs, the way substitutes are impacting outcomes when the pressure is really on. Moments like when Roberto Firmino punished Paris Saint-Germain as the clock ticked down, like when Divock Origi emerged from the shadows to play a defining role in the Merseyside derby, like Shaqiri did here, just three minutes after he’d been introduced. It feels significant that Liverpool have made the third best start to any Premier League campaign, that too – the best was came only last season by Manchester City. Liverpool will have to break new ground to prove themselves as the very best but it should also encourage that they are already on the brink of doing that in some crucial departments. As Klopp rammed his fist into the night air and the Kop roared, Alisson bear-hugged Shaqiri, kissing the crown of his head repeatedly.

Daniel Taylor, Guardian

For all the historic rivalry of this fixture it is the other team from along the East Lancs Road that should be uppermost in Liverpool’s thoughts now. Liverpool versus Manchester City is what matters. And United? They are just a memory. Mourinho’s team have conceded more goals in mid-December than they did throughout the whole of last season. They are 19 points off the top and one statistic in particular stood out: 36 shots for Liverpool, their most in any league fixture for two years. One certainty: Liverpool will enjoy rubbernecking in United’s direction. The league leaders were fortunate in one respect, that Shaqiri’s second-half goals both took deflections before beating David de Gea in United’s goal. Overall, however, who could say they were lucky given the balance of play, the long spells when they pinned their opponents back and the clear suspicion that, but for a mistake from Alisson, Liverpool’s goalkeeper, it would have been an even more straightforward victory Liverpool, holding off the champions at the top of the table, can forget United now and that, more than anything, shows the different directions in which these clubs are travelling.

This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.