Man United's Luke Shaw and David de Gea apologise for Liverpool humiliation

David de Gea and Luke Shaw have apologised to Manchester United fans in the wake of their 7-0 humiliation at the hands of bitter rivals Liverpool.

In a serious reality check to the recent progress under manager Erik ten Hag, United produced a calamitous defensive performance at Anfield as they shipped six second-half goals.

Spanish goalkeeper De Gea described the result as a 'disastrous moment' in an Instagram post, while left-back Shaw admitted 'standards have slipped' in an interview with MUTV, the club's in-house television channel.

Taking to social media in the hours after the game, De Gea wrote: 'I know these message[s] don't sit well on such a day.

'This was a disastrous moment for us and these results shouldn't happen, especially with the journey we are all on.

'We have a duty to this club, a responsibility to represent the badge but we have many opportunities to look ahead, many games coming fast and we have to lock our focus on these.'

Shaw said post-match: 'Out there on the pitch, I felt embarrassed for us players, for the fans who were supporting us and who were watching at home.

'To watch that second half… I can only apologise for that. Us, as players, have to own it, we have to stand up and accept that it was nowhere near good enough.

'It was completely unacceptable. Our standards have clearly dropped since we won that trophy [the Carabao Cup seven days earlier] and, in the last couple of games, we haven't been our normal selves.

'We need to find the good things we were doing before and bring them back because this hurts a lot and it's really unacceptable what we did in that second half.

'We showed no personality and no mentality. For a big team to come here, we need to do better.'

Despite the historic nature of the loss, United must re-focus quickly because they play Real Betis in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie at Old Trafford on Thursday night.

With the Carabao Cup already in the bag, United are also still in the hunt in the FA Cup, where they'll play Fulham in the last eight.

However, Sunday's result has probably put paid to any chance of them catching Arsenal and Manchester City above them in the Premier League title race.