DANNY’S BACK TO BITE KLOPP
Ings stuns former club Liverpool to blow title race wide open
SOUTHAMPTON 1 Ings 2 LIVERPOOL 0
Just as Britain was locking down, so the title race was opening up. What an impact southampton have had with a deserved, impressive, victory here.
If Manchester united win their game in hand at Burnley next week, they will go top for the first time this late in the season since 2012-13. sir Alex Ferguson was still in charge back then, and went on to win the league. united’s next fixture after the Burnley game is at Anfield. Jeepers.
Yet that is next week’s story. Last ni g ht’ s bel o nged to southampton, who led inside two minutes and held tight to that advantage, despite Liverpool’s second-half onslaught. there were penalty appeals — most, but not all, were specious — and some quite heroic defending.
there were blocks and lastditch interceptions and stand-in goalkeeper Fraser Forster appeared to make one save with his back turned.
Yet, somehow, southampton’s fortress held. they had only won a single Premier League game of their previous 15 played on a Monday, but maybe their luck will change after this.
It would certainly be deserved. Few teams can match Liverpool’s press but Ralph Hasenhuttl’s did.
stuart Armstrong was exceptional in midfield, the defence showed the resolve that was missing when surrendering a two-goal lead here to Manchester united before Christmas. Liverpool were made to wait longer than in any match since December 2015 for a shot on target.
Of course, resistance comes with a price and southampton were almost out on their feet by the end, but still could have made it two when Alisson ventured from his goal and was nearly beaten from wide by Yan Valery.
By then, Danny Ings had been withdrawn, but what a night for him. Not just the winning goal against his former club, but a match-winning performance, too, attack as the first line of defence — one tackle in front of the dugout earning a thunderous reception from his manager and team-mates in the stand.
It is only the second time in Jurgen Klopp’s tenure that Liverpool have failed to score in consecutive matches, but perhaps that is a sign of the times.
this time last season, the league was as good as won. Now, it is more open than ever. We may be locked down, nothing else is in the least secure.
It was a neat reversal of the norm here. On so many occasions of late, southampton have been undone by a player they sold to Liverpool, so it was refreshing to see the opposite can also be true. Ings has now scored 50 Premier League goals but, at one minute and 51 seconds, this against his former club was his fastest.
And while we can all reach conclusions about Liverpool’s makeshift defence comprising two central midfielders — Fabinho and Jordan Henderson — in the centre-half positions, it is worth noting that the man who let Ings go was playing in his customary position at right full-back: trent Alexander-Arnold.
It was, as is so often the case, a f ree- kick f rom James Ward-Prowse that caused Liverpool the problem. Alexander-Arnold lost Ings while Henderson left a leg in and played him onside.
Both errors, major and minor, conspired to prove costly. Ings received the ball but not a flag and from a wide position lofted it up and over goalkeeper Alisson.
the start clearly rattled Klopp, who also saw thiago Alcantara booked in the early stages, and then Andy Robertson.
the second foul, needless and petty on scotland team-mate Armstrong, provoked an outburst from the touchline that echoed around the empty stadium.
For once, Klopp’s anger was not directed at a referee, a linesman, Chris Wilder or Bt sport, but his own player. ‘Why did you do that?’ he asked Robertson. No explanation was forthcoming.
the shakes continued. Alisson played the ball straight to theo Walcott, who failed to bring it under control, and soon after Henderson and Fabinho lost out again to a ball by Armstrong, forwarded to Moussa Djenepo, who shot over.
With saints’ first-choice keeper Alex McCarthy isolating, former Celtic man Forster made his first Premier League appearance since May 2019 with inconsistent results.
He was certainly rather fortunate to receive a foul when he dropped the ball after a heavy landing.
Forster looked to have tumbled over his own man as much as Mo salah. His distribution was inconsistent — one attempted pass went straight to sadio Mane — and as the pressure grew, southampton’s defence became more fraught.
they seemed to get away with one five minutes into the second half, too, when a shot by Georginio Wijnaldum struck Jack stephens on the hand.
It was close range, but away from his body — certainly in seen-them-given territory.
Yet clear chances were rare. Alexander-Arnold was close to playing in Mane for an early equaliser, but was thwarted by Kyle Walker-Peters, and a deep ball by thiago picked out Mane again, but he shot over after cutting inside.
Mane crossed to salah who headed just wide in first-half injury time, yet the bitter chill on the south coast was not the only reason Klopp was sinking into his padded coat as his players searched for an opening.