Liverpool extended their lead on the Premier League top to 16 points when Mohamed Salah scored two penalties in a comeback 3-1 win over Southampton in Anfield.
Match report
While Arne Slot looked from the stands as he served the second game of his two-match Touchline ban, Southampton endangered an upset when Will Smallbone used a mix between Virgil van Dijk and Alisson to go home.
But Liverpool was a team transformed after the break, when Slot Andy Robertson, Alexis Mac Allister and Harvey Elliott introduced into a triple replacement.
Darwin Nunez remained in spite of the staircase at Kyle Walker-Peters checked for violent behavior and liberated by the VAR, and he tapped home on Luis Diaz's cross for a 51st minute equalizer.
Three minutes later, the Uruguayan was polluted from behind by Smallbone, so that Salah could in the top left corner from the penalty spot.
A handball from Southampton replacement Yukinari Sugawara allowed the Egyptian to score another spot kick two minutes of time, making the points safe.
While Southampton stays at the bottom of nine points, Liverpool has a huge advantage compared to the second place Arsenal, which will be confronted with Manchester United and Chelsea in the coming eight days in their two games in hand.
Data Debrief: Salah's best campaign
While Nunez deserves the honor of turning this match early in the second half, Salah was again the hero for Liverpool.
He has now scored all nine of the penalties that he has taken in the Premier League this season.
No player has ever taken more spot kicks in one campaign while retaining a 100% success rate, although Cole Palmer had an identical record for Chelsea last season.
Salah is also a maximum of 44 target involvement in the Premier League in 2024-25 (27 goals, 17 assists), making it his best campaign after he managed 42 contributions in 2017-18 (32 goals, 10 assists).
The Egyptian is only three goals involvement from binding the seasonal record of all time, in which Andy Cole and Alan Shearer manages 47 each in 1993-94 and 1994-95 respectively.
Match -Events
0 'The game is about to start!
2 'Competition event for Liverpool vs Southampton
17 'Bednarek cannot continue and it will be replaced by Armel Bella-Kotchap
23 'Fernandes refers to distance and forces a salvation from Alisson
27 'Nunez is about a Szoboszlai film
30 'Nunez waves and drives an attempt that forces Ramsdale in a stop
31 'Tsimikas has been booked yellow for a tackle on Walker-Peters
43 'Jones goes back and Nunez goes on it, but sends a loop effort
46 'Smallbone places visitors ahead in a stop time! Liverpool 0-1 Southampton
46 'Robertson, Elliott and Mac Allister On, Tsimikas, Szoboszlai and Jones Off
47 'Elliott's Powerfu strike forces a good save from Ramsdale
48 'Nunez is shown the yellow card
52 'Nunez levels The score for Reds when Luis Diaz helps! Liverpool 1-1 Southampton
54 'Mo Salah converts Van de Spot-Kick! Liverpool 2-1 Southampton
68 'Jota On, Nunez Off
71 'Salah tries to distract Diaz's Pass to the goal, but cannot get the accuracy completely
72 'Lallana replaces Smallbone and the former Liverpool -Man is welcome from Anfield
81 'Eliott decides to shoot and the sliced effort just drains wide
87 'Salah Nets double and expands the leadership for Reds! Liverpool 3-1 Southampton
Line-ups
Liverpool XI: Alisson, Salah, Van Dijk, Tsimikas, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Szoboszlai, Luis Díaz, Nunez, Curtis Jones, Gravenberch
Subs: Endo, Robertson, Jota, Kelleher, Chiesa, Mac Allister, Elliott, Quansah, James McConnell
Southampton XI: Bednarek, Ryan Manning, Walker-Peters, Ramsdale, Will Smallbone, Harwood-Bellis, L. Ugochukwu, Kamaldeen Sulemana, Albert Grønbaek, Tyler Dibbling, Mateus Fernande
Subs: Lallana, McCarthy, Stephens, Paul Onuachu, Joe Aribo, Yukinari Sugawara, Bella-Kotchap, Cameron Archer, Wellington
Comments