KLOPP LEAVES SAINTS IN FREEFALL
Firmino and Salah in different class to keep Reds snapping at United’s heels
GONE in 10 seconds. The game, Southampton’s hope, and, perhaps, even the reign of beleaguered manager Mauricio Pellegrino. After Huddersfield and Newcastle conjured remarkable victories earlier in the afternoon, Southampton supporters wondered if this was to be the day when the perceived downand-outs raised themselves from the canvas. Any optimism was swiftly filed away. In one devastating sequence only six minutes into the game, Liverpool produced a brutal counter-attack that has become the hallmark of this Jurgen Klopp team.
From their own penalty box to the Southampton goal in three passes and 10 seconds, it was breathless and beautiful to observe.
Goalkeeper Loris Karius launched the break with a speedy throw to Alex OxladeChamberlain midway inside his own half. The midfielder looked up and clipped a smart pass that breached the Southampton midfield and defence, and then Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane prowled towards goal. Salah sped away and fed the ball inside, with the aid of a miskick by Wesley Hoedt, and Firmino slid it into the goal.
The ball moved at pulsating pace and, inevitably, Salah was at the heart of it all. Yet this was not his most complete performance. The Egyptian was good, rather than great, but it was still enough for a goal and an assist as he took his Premier League tally to 22 goals for the season. He is now above Sergio Aguero and one behind Harry Kane.
Firmino, as ever, was not far behind Salah, working diligently, troubling defenders and providing touches of class in crucial areas. The pair have 49 goals between them for the campaign.
Yet what of Southampton? This is becoming a sorry tale. If the first goal damaged the hosts, the second on 42 minutes crushed Pellegrino’s side entirely. Salah’s goal was deftly constructed as he nipped the ball in to Firmino and the Brazilian impudently back-heeled a return pass. Salah took a touch, brushed past the defenders and sealed victory.
This win takes Klopp’s side two points behind Manchester United in second place. Yet Klopp’s side will rarely have afternoons as straight- forward as this. Liverpool, never known for their capacity to protect a lead, had little to contemplate in the second period and Southampton registered just one shot in a sterile second half.
The atmosphere in the ground had been flat from the very start. The home supporters did not even give too much welly to their attempts to intimidate the returning Virgil van Dijk. A few touches were booed but not with particular menace and it summed up Southampton’s continued malaise.
Everything about this club appears passive. The team are 18th in the Premier League and supporters are grumpy. The team play without urgency and are sleepwalking into the relegation doldrums.
After one victory in 14 Premier League games, the home fans booed on the final whistle and serenaded Pellegrino’s substitutions with taunts of ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’.
Former Southampton players Mane and Oxlade-Chamberlain were in Liverpool’s starting XI and Dejan Lovren and Adam Lallana were later introduced, almost teasing Saints fans to wonder what might have been had they retained such a promising group.
‘Born to play for Southampton, then be sold to Liverpool,’ read one sign held up by a young child at the game.
Van Dijk, who said he ‘enjoyed’ his reception, was barely flustered. He was assured in dominating striker Guido Carrillo and constructing Liverpool moves from deep.
Pellegrino’s side have come from behind to win only one Premier League game all season. They did produce something approaching a response after the first goal, bringing two excellent saves from Karius. At the other end, Mane twice fired wide and Firmino had two reasonable penalty appeals, even if his falls were on the theatrical side.
After the break, Liverpool attacked at will and only a fine save by Alex McCarthy denied Firmino before both Salah and Mane spurned clear chances to make the chasm greater. SOUTHAMPTON (4-3-3): McCarthy 6; Soares 5.5, Stephens 5, Hoedt 4, Bertrand 6; Romeu 6 (Davis 80min), Lemina 5 (Boufal 57, 5), Hojbjerg 6; Ward-Prowse 6 (Long 71, 5), Carrillo 5.5, Tadic 5. Subs not used: Forster, Yoshida, Redmond, Gabbiadini. Booked: Romeu. Manager: Mauricio Pellegrino 4. LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Karius 7; Alexander-Arnold 7, Matip 6, Van Dijk 7, Robertson 6.5; OxladeChamberlain 6.5 (Milner 60, 6), Can 6, Wijnaldum 6; Salah 8 (Lovren 89), FIRMINO 8 (Lallana 79), Mane 7. Subs not used: Mignolet, Moreno, Ings, Solanke. Scorers: Firmino 6, Salah 42. Booked: Matip, Can. Manager: Jurgen Klopp 7. Referee: Martin Atkinson 6. Attendance: 31,915.