Mane on song as Saints march to victory from two-goal deficit

SOUTHAMPTON staged a remarkable recovery from 2-0 down with Sadio Mane scoring twice in a 3-2 victory to damage Liverpool’s hopes of moving into top-four contention in the Premier League yesterday.

Philippe Coutinho’s curling shot past Fraser Forster gave Liverpool the lead after 17 minutes and they doubled their advantage four minutes later when Daniel Sturridge finished off a swift counter-attack.

Liverpool were well worth their lead, but Southampton were a different proposition after the break. Mane had a penalty saved by Simon Mignolet in the 49th minute but he made amends with a close-range finish just past the hour mark.

Christian Benteke should have restored Liverpool’s two-goal advantage, but shot wide from a good position.

From then on it was all Southampton as the visitors, looking heavy-legged after their midweek Europa League clash with Manchester United, sat back in the hope of playing out time.

Graziano Pelle shook off the attentions of both Liverpool’s centre backs to equalise with a powerful 20-metre strike seven minutes from time.

Mane snatched the points three minutes later with a precise, low finish after Mignolet had failed to clear and the ball was played back into the danger area.

Victory moved Southampton into seventh place on 47 points, three more than Liverpool.

“I do not know about the top four, we are not closer than we were before. There are nine games left, that is 27 points, it is possible, I don’t know,” Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp told the BBC.

Aleksandar Mitrovic headed a late equaliser to end Newcastle’s miserable losing run against fiercest neighbours and rivals Sunderland on Sunday but the 1-1 draw still left both teams deep in the Premier League relegation mire.

The Serbian soared at the far post to nod man-of-the-match Georginio Wijnaldum’s 79th-minute chipped cross back into the opposite corner just as the home fans at St James’ Park were preparing for a seventh straight defeat at the hands of the Black Cats.

Sunderland had gone ahead a minute before half- time when Jermain Defoe volleyed in his 12th goal of the season and they held out under plenty of Newcastle second-half pressure, even clearing off the line through Yann M’Vila soon after the break.

Yet the visitors’ season-long inability to finish off the job when a win beckoned haunted them once more when Wijnaldum’s excellent run and cross to put in Mitrovic ensured that they failed to keep a clean sheet for their 18th successive game.

Billed as one of the most important of the 156 Tyne-Wear derbies with relegation this season expected to cost £100 million, the draw pleased neither Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce nor his old sparring partner, Newcastle’s new boss Rafa Benitez, with both sides still left in the relegation zone.

“If we don’t start getting these clean sheets, it’s going to be a massive problem,” Allardyce told Sky Sports. “Sadly, we didn’t get the second goal and we conceded late on again. We had the chances to put the game to bed, but missed them.

“Second half, I don’t know why we sat in and let Newcastle come at us. We should have won this one. We need four wins from the last eight, so it’s now must-win rather than draw.”

Still, though, Defoe was adamant that the result, which leaves Sunderland one point and one place clear of 19th-placed Newcastle, would help his side to avoid the drop even though he too was convinced they should have taken all three points.

“Time is running out but I’m sure we will be fine,” Defoe said. – Reuters