Salah stars as Liverpool humiliates Man United at Old Trafford. Big-spending Chelsea held by Palace

Liverpool reasserted its dominance over Manchester United on Sunday by beating its great rival 3-0 on Sunday as Mohamed Salah enjoyed another dreamy visit to Old Trafford.

For United's Casemiro, it was nothing short of a nightmare.

Salah scored for the seventh straight game at Old Trafford and also provided two first-half assists for Luis Diaz in United’s latest humiliation at the hands of its fiercest opponent in what is historically the biggest match in English soccer.

When it was put to Salah that it was an easy game for Liverpool, he replied: “I agree with you. I was a little surprised. The game could have finished five or six."

Make that 15 goals in all competitions for Salah against United since he joined Liverpool in 2017, and he was regaled with songs by the vocal visiting contingent in the final moments of a one-sided match.

By that time, Casemiro was off the field — and maybe wondering what his future holds at United.

The 32-year-old Brazil midfielder was at fault for both of Diaz’s goals — first because of a sloppy pass, and then after being dispossessed — and he was substituted at halftime for a 20-year-old rookie in Toby Collyer.

His performance came two days after United spent $55 million on Manuel Ugarte, a Uruguay defensive midfielder who arrived from Paris Saint-Germain as likely the long-term replacement for Casemiro.

That was part of a summer outlay of $240 million by United after deciding to keep Erik ten Hag as manager, despite a disappointing eighth-place finish in the Premier League last season.

On this evidence, nothing has changed for the team that was once the biggest in Europe but which hasn't won the league since 2013, the last season of Alex Ferguson.

United has lost two of its three league games so far this season, winning the other one — against Fulham — thanks to a late goal.

Still, the United manager remained confident about the season.

“Many games to play and I know where we will be at the end of the season,” Ten Hag said. “We will go for trophies, that will stand.”

In contrast, Liverpool has won all three matches without conceding a goal. It's quite the start to life at Anfield for Arne Slot, with Liverpool enjoying a seamless transition after nine trophy-laden years with Jurgen Klopp.

“This was my first big win,” Slot said. “They showed me in the last weeks that they can work so hard. We were so dominant with the ball.”

The only other team with nine points from nine is defending champion Manchester City.

The win would have given Liverpool extra satisfaction because the team's season was ruined at Old Trafford in the 2023-24 campaign, after losing in the FA Cup quarterfinals and dropping vital points in the league title run-in.

The season before, Liverpool beat United 7-0 at Anfield while it enjoyed 4-0 and 5-0 wins over United in the 2021-22 season.

CHELSEA HELD

Spending hundreds of millions of dollars on new players is proving no guarantee of victories for Chelsea, either.

A 1-1 home draw with Crystal Palace meant Chelsea has won just one of its first three league matches this season — even if that was a 6-2 rout of Wolverhampton last weekend.

Eberechi Eze’s fine curling shot from the edge of the area in the 53rd minute secured a point for Palace, which spent most of the summer transfer window desperately trying to keep its best players. Eze fits into the category.

Chelsea, on the other hand, brought in 12 players — at a cost of around $290 million — in the latest huge outlay by its American investors. Only one new signing, Pedro Neto, started against Palace at Stamford Bridge and it was two players signed last year who combined for the 25th-minute opener as Nicolas Jackson tapped in from Cole Palmer’s pass.

Chelsea has four points from a possible nine, having opened the season by losing to Manchester City, and manager Enzo Maresca said “the direction is the correct one” for his team.

“Probably one thing that has to be clear: Chelsea three years ago won the Champions League but now it is not that kind of Chelsea," he said. "So now sometimes if you don't win, it is normal.”

NEWCASTLE SNATCHES WIN

Newcastle beat Tottenham 2-1 — and stayed unbeaten on seven points — thanks to a 78th-minute winner by Alexander Isak that came against the run of play at St. James' Park.

Dan Burn's own-goal in the 56th brought Spurs back into the match after Harvey Barnes' strike in the 37th.

Tottenham dominated the second half, hitting the crossbar off Pedro Porro's deflected cross and seeing James Maddison force a great save out of Nick Pope, before conceding off a simple ball through the heart of the defense. Jacob Murphy ran through and played a pass across to Isak, who couldn't miss in front of an empty goal from inside the six-yard box.

Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Liverpool's Luis Diaz celebrates after scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024, in Manchester, England. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai, left, challenges for the ball with Manchester United's Casemiro during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024, in Manchester, England. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Liverpool's manager Arne Slot reacts during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024, in Manchester, England. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024, in Manchester, England. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024, in Manchester, England. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Tottenham Hotspur's Brennan Johnson, left, celebrates scoring with teammates during the Englidh Premier League soccer match between Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur at St James' Park, Newcastle, England, Sunday Sept. 1, 2024. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

Newcastle United's Alexander Isak, left, and Tottenham Hotspur's Cristian Romero battle for the ball during the Englidh Premier League soccer match between Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur at St James' Park, Newcastle, England, Sunday Sept. 1, 2024. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson, left, scores the opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Crystal Palace, at the Stamford Bridge Stadium in London, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Crystal Palace's Eberechi Eze, second right, celebrates after scoring his sides first goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Crystal Palace, at the Stamford Bridge Stadium in London, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Chelsea's Noni Madueke, left, and Crystal Palace's Tyrick Mitchell, center, fight for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Crystal Palace, at the Stamford Bridge Stadium in London, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is safe following what the FBI says "appears to be an attempted assassination” while playing golf two months after another attempt on his life at a rally in Pennsylvania.

Local authorities said the U.S. Secret Service agents protecting Trump fired at a man pointing an AK-style rifle with a scope as Trump was playing on one of his Florida golf courses in West Palm Beach.

Here are five things to know about what happened Sunday to the Republican presidential nominee.

Law enforcement officials said the man who pointed the rifle and was arrested is Ryan Wesley Routh. The officials identified the suspect to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

Records show Routh, 58, lived in North Carolina for most of his life before moving in 2018 to Kaaawa, Hawaii, where he and his son operated a company building sheds, according to an archived version of the webpage for the business.

Routh frequently posted on social media about the war in Ukraine and had a website where he sought to raise money and recruit volunteers to go to Kyiv to join the fight against the Russian invasion. In June 2020, he made a post on X directed at then-President Trump to say he would win reelection if he issued an executive order for the Justice Department to prosecute police misconduct. That year, he also posted in support of the Democratic presidential campaign of then-U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who has since left the party and endorsed Trump.

However, in recent years, his posts suggest he soured on Trump, and he expressed support for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

In July, following the assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania, Routh urged Biden and Harris to visit those wounded in the shooting at the hospital and to attend the funeral of a former fire chief killed at the rally.

Voter records show he registered as an unaffiliated voter in North Carolina in 2012, most recently voting in person during the state’s Democratic Party primary in March 2024. Federal campaign finance records show Routh made 19 small political donations totaling $140 since 2019 using his Hawaii address to ActBlue, a political action committee that supports Democratic candidates.

Records show that while living in Greensboro, North Carolina, Routh had multiple run-ins with law enforcement. He was convicted in 2002 of possessing a weapon of mass destruction, according to online North Carolina Department of Adult Correction records.

The records do not provide details about the case. But a News & Record story from 2002 says a man with the same name was arrested after a three-hour standoff with police. The story says he was pulled over during a traffic stop, put his hand on a gun and barricaded himself inside a roofing business. He owned the roofing company, according to state incorporation filings.

Local authorities said the gunman was about 400 yards to 500 yards away from Trump and hiding in shrubbery while the former president was playing a round of golf at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.

Ric Bradshaw, sheriff of Palm Beach County, said that when people get into the shrubbery around the course, “they’re pretty much out of sight.” Bradshaw said the entire golf course would have been lined with law enforcement if Trump were the sitting president, but because he’s not, “security is limited to the areas the Secret Service deems possible.”

Trump’s protective detail has been higher than some of his peers because of his high visibility and his campaign to seek the White House again. His security was bolstered days before the July assassination attempt in Pennsylvania because of a threat on Trump’s life from Iran, U.S. officials said.

In an email to supporters, Trump said: “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!”

His running mate, JD Vance, and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said they spoke with Trump after the incident, and both said he was in “good spirits.” Trump also checked in with several Fox News hosts.

Fox News host Sean Hannity, a close friend of the former president's, said on air that he spoke with Trump and his golf partner, Steve Witkoff, afterward. They told Hannity they had been on the fifth hole when they heard a “pop pop, pop pop.” Within seconds, he said Witkoff recounted, Secret Service agents “pounced on” Trump and “covered him” to protect him.

Moments later, Witkoff said, a “fast cart” with steel reinforcement and other protection was able to whisk Trump away.

Hannity said Trump’s reaction after this happened — and when it was clear that everyone, including Witkoff, was safe — was to quip that he was sad he hadn’t been able to finish the hole since he “was even and had a birdie putt.”

Harris, Trump's Democratic opponent in the presidential election, posted on X that she had been briefed on the reports of gunshots fired.

“I am glad he is safe. Violence has no place in America.”

The White House said President Joe Biden and Harris would be kept updated on the investigation. The White House added it was “relieved” to know Trump is safe.

Trump has not announced any changes to his schedule and is set to speak live on X on Monday night from his Mar-a-Lago resort to launch his sons’ crypto platform.

Meanwhile, the leaders of a congressional bipartisan task force investigating the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump said they have requested a briefing by the Secret Service.

“We are thankful that the former President was not harmed, but remain deeply concerned about political violence and condemn it in all of its forms,” Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., and Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., said in a statement. They said the task force will share updates.

U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat who is part of the task force, said he “will seek answers about what happened today and then.”

Ryan Wesley Routh holds up a banner during a rally in central Kyiv, Ukraine on Saturday April 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

Photos that show an AK-47 rifle, a backpack and a Go-Pro camera on a fence outside Trump International Golf Club taken after an apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, are displayed during a news conference at the Palm Beach County Main Library, Sunday. Sept. 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Stephany Matat)

This photo provided by the Martin County Sheriff's Office shows Sheriff's vehicles surrounding an SUV on the northbound I-95 in Martin County on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)