Reds in cruise mode, United held
London, Feb. 2: Liverpool surged 22 points clear at the top of the Premier League with a 4-0 win over Southampton, while Bruno Fernandes made his Manchester United debut in a goalless draw against Wolves on Saturday.
Mohamed Salah scored twice as the championselect equalled a Premier League record with a 20th straight home win at Anfield.
Southampton believed they should have had a penalty early in the second half when Danny Ings went down in the box against his old club, but no spot-kick was given. Liverpool went straight up the other end to take the lead through Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Jordan Henderson doubled the European champions’ lead with a smart finish on the hour mark.
Salah then produced two cool finishes in the final 20 minutes as Klopp’s men took their tally of points to a remarkable 100 from the last possible 102.
Having completed his move from Sporting Lisbon on Thursday in a deal worth an initial £47 million, Fernandes went straight into the starting line-up at Old Trafford.
The 25-year-old midfielder delivered a composed display full of neat passing as he lined up behind United striker Anthony Martial and took the role of chief creator.
He kept Rui Patricio on his toes with a series of long-range drives, one of which the Wolves goalkeeper nearly spilled into his own net.
On Sunday, Arsenal lost more ground in the race to finish in the Premier League’s top four after being held to a 0-0 draw at Burnley.
Mikel Arteta’s side are trailing 10 points behind fourth placed Chelsea and look certain to fall well short of the Champions League places. It was another frustrating afternoon for Arteta, who saw his team squander several chances to take the lead in a match they could easily have lost with better finishing from Burnley.