Egyptian stars in a comfortable 3-0 win over Southampton at Anfield…
A first half double from in-form wideman Mohamed Salah helped Liverpool to end their five-game winless run against Southampton on Saturday.
The goals mean Salah now has an impressive nine in the top-flight this term; placing him top of the scoring charts and also helping the summer acquisition to surpass club legend Robbie Fowler‘s previous record tally of eight after 12 Premier League appearances for the Reds.
Up until the former Chelsea man curled home the opener in the 31st minute it had been a competitive affair but the visitors, who have netted just nine times collectively this season, quickly faded thereafter.
A fine Philippe Coutinho through-ball facilitated Salah’s second 10 minutes later and the Brazilian, who was another to produce a fine individual performance, added a third, after Fraser Forster had saved Roberto Firmino‘s original effort, in the 68th minute.
Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp, who was in the dugout despite being hospitalised earlier in the week after feeling unwell, was rewarded for a bold team selection which featured attacking quartet Coutinho, Firmino, Salah and Sadio Mané together for a first time.
The decision didn’t undermine the team’s recent defensive improvements however, with the Merseysiders recording a seventh clean sheet in their last eight at home in the league and denying Southampton a shot on target in the process.
“For the first goal,” analysed Klopp at his post-match press conference. “The ball was already away but we forced it back somehow – I’m not sure exactly how, maybe a mistake of Southampton, but it was not a real chance from there I would say. It was a fantastic goal.
“The second goal, fantastic play, an outstanding forward pass – I’m pretty sure Phil has played a few more of these passes in his life, but not always when somebody gets it in the box and is not offside. That’s quite rare. It was a nice goal.
“It was an open game and in the beginning we maybe had a little bit more, we had some chances and moments, the cross from Sadio [for Salah] and stuff like this. They are a really good football team, Southampton, and you need these moments.
“We had them not too often so far this season, a game like this – 50 or 60 minutes and it’s still 0-0 with a similar or exactly-the-same performance [as today]. You need these goals and thank God in these moments we scored them, it makes all the difference.
“As you can imagine, I am really happy about the defending of the whole team and especially the last line, which was really strong. It was just an all-round good performance, a really deserved win and for us very important to push the top of the table a little bit together.
“We’re still in [there] and that’s good – [Manchester] City are obviously flying around alone; we cannot change that, but we can make pressure on all of the others and that’s what we did today.”
Liverpool remain fifth, above Arsenal and Burnley on goal difference, but they are now just one point behind Tottenham Hotspur and four off second-placed Manchester United.
In between the two sit Chelsea, who the Reds host next weekend knowing a win will draw the two level on 25 points.
First they must travel to Sevilla for a Champions League Group H fixture on Tuesday that could secure them a place in the competition’s knockout stages.
So that’s what both us and Klopp thought about the game, how about you? Let us know your views below…
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