Southampton 1-3 Liverpool: Saints fall just short of table-topping Reds
By Marc Walker
Southampton put up a good fight against Liverpool but a late charge saw the visitors to St Mary’s claim a 3-1 victory on Friday evening.
The hosts would claim a deserved early lead through Shane Long, but Naby Keita’s header levelled the game up before half-time.
A late spell of pressure then saw Liverpool find the net twice more through Mohamed Salah and Jordan Henderson to return to the top of the table.
Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl had used a 4-2-2-2 system for his side’s 1-0 win over Brighton at the weekend but he reverted to a 5-4-1 for this contest.
Both Shane Long and Jannik Vestergaard came in for Stuart Armstrong and Danny Ings, who was ineligible against his parent club.
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It proved to be the perfect start to the game for the home side as they went ahead after eight minutes.
Ryan Bertrand picked out the run of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg with an accurate cross and Shane Long was on hand to fire home the opener from close-range after latching on to the Dane’s flicked header.
Liverpool replied as Sadio Mane forced a good reaction save from Angus Gunn, but Long would the have a great opportunity to double the Saints lead.
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Ryan Bertrand put in a perfect low cross to the striker who couldn’t make a connection at the near post and Virgil van-Dijk was fortunate not to turn inadvertently into his own net as he cleared the ball.
It had been a strong first-half showing from Saints but Liverpool struck back 10 minutes before half-time.
Mohamed Salah appeared to be offside in the passage of play before the goal but it was Naby Keita who rose highest to head home Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross to the back post and level the game up.
After an even first period overall, it was Saints who made the faster start after the break.
Yan Valery was finding joy down the right, whilst Jannik Vestergaard’s header and Shane Long’s shot from distance both went wide of the target.
They were to get a big reprieve soon after though as Liverpool were denied what looked to be a clear penalty.
Naby Keita broke into the box and was brought down by a mistimed challenge from Maya Yoshida, but referee Paul Tierney waved away the visitors’ claims.
This proved to be the beginning of a long spell of pressure for the Reds and Yoshida had to make a flying block to get in the way of Roberto Firmino’s strike on the turn.
However, they eventually got their reward for their strong period as they took the lead after a rapid counter-attack.
A Saints corner was charged down and the ball broke for Mohamed Salah, who ran with pace and power directly at goal and fired an unstoppable strike into the far corner.
There was still time in the last five minutes for substitute Jordan Henderson to wrap the three points up by making it 3-1
He turned in Firmino’s ball across goal after making a good run from midfield and in-turn sent Liverpool back to the top of the Premier League table.
It was a good fight from Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Saints side but their efforts would fall just short and they remain in 16th.