Premier League leaders Liverpool beat Southampton 3-2 to open the gap between themselves and second-placed Manchester City to eight points. super sundae Thriller at St. Mary’s.
Goals from Adam Armstrong and Matheus Fernandes saw Saints cancel out Dominik Szoboszlai’s opener – but Mohamed Salah’s double did the job for Arne Slott’s side in wet and windy conditions on the south coast.
It was an almost perfect start for Southampton. With seven minutes on the clock, Armstrong cut back Ibrahima Konate and got down on the ground inside the box. The home fans were angry, certain a penalty should have been awarded, but neither referee Sam Barrot nor VAR Michael Oliver agreed.
Liverpool got off to a disappointing start but Saints goalkeeper Alex McCarthy, making his first Premier League start in three months, was tested on a few occasions until he found the lead.
McCarthy passed the ball to Fernandes under intense pressure, Flynn Downes tried to hook the ball clear and failed, allowing Szoboszlai to fire a shot into the top-left corner. It was the seventh error in goalscoring for Russell Martin this season – the most in the Premier League.
But, Saints composed themselves just before the break. A lengthy VAR review confirmed that Tyler Dibbling was hit by Andy Robertson just inside the box, although Caoimhin Kelleher saved Armstrong’s initial effort, but the forward blocked the rebound.
Before the hour mark, the comeback was complete. Dibbling won the ball in a tight space near the halfway line and delivered a wonderful pass into the path of Armstrong. He lifted the ball up, turned and squared Fernandes to sweep it inside and to the boundary.
Then the speed increased again. Ryan Gravenberch laid the ball out for Salah, whose careless finish caught McCarthy – who had been forced to run off his line – cold, with the ball flying past him and into the unguarded net.
And there was no way back for the hosts when Salah fired a penalty past McCarthy after misreading a cross at the back post by Yukinari Sugawara, confirming the teams at the top and bottom of the Premier League table. But will remain. ,
Vote: Should Lallana have seen red?
Before his replacement, Gravenberch was booked for a foul on Southampton’s Adam Lallana.
“He’s not in control, he’s not even looking at the ball,” he said. sky sports‘Roy Keane.
“They’ve looked at the character of the player, he’s not a bad type really. Southampton got away with one from there. The more I look at it the worse it gets.”
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