PA Media/dpa
London
Liverpool moved eight points clear at the top of the Premier League as Mohamed Salah scored twice to help them come from behind to beat bottom-club Southampton 3-2 at St. Mary’s.
Arne Slot’s side were looking to take advantage of Manchester City’s third consecutive league defeat on Saturday but were rocked by a determined and at times ferocious display from Saints, who briefly led after goals from Adam Armstrong and Mateus Fernandes cancelled out Dominik Szoboszlai’s first-half strike.
Liverpool’s opener had come from a costly Southampton error in defence, and there were two more after the break to turn three points into none.
First, goalkeeper Alex McCarthy was caught in no-man’s land from a long ball allowing Salah to edge the ball past him and over the line, then 10 minutes from the end, Yukinari Sugawara’s needless handball in the box gave Salah the chance to win it, which he duly took.
The worst of Saints’ three defensive calamities was the first, for Szoboszlai’s goal. Fernandes was robbed by Curtis Jones who intercepted possession, though Flynn Downes was given more than enough time and space to mop up.
Instead he passed straight to the feet of Szoboszlai who punished Southampton’s carelessness with a slick, curling effort that pinged against the far post and in.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot praised a “special” contribution from Salah after his two goals helped the team move eight points clear at the top of the Premier League.
“We always know we can trust him when things are difficult for us,” said Slot. “After we went 2-1 down I didn’t really feel that that was the moment we would score.
“It was a fantastic pass from Ryan Gravenberch, but the timing of the run and the finish was special. That really helped us back in the game, and we needed that goal to play the last 25 minutes that we played, because for me then it was only a matter of time until we scored.”
Liverpool have won 10 of their first 12 Premier League games under Slot making him just the third manager in the competition’s history to achieve that feat, after Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti.
It will be remembered as one of the more hard-fought victories of his early tenure as Saints defied their predicament at the foot of the table to turn in a committed and at times ferocious performance.
Premier League Sunday resultscColor:>
Liverpool 3 Southampton 2
Man United 1 Ipswich Town 1.
