Full time: Southampton 1-3 Liverpool
Peep peep! Liverpool go back to the top of the table with an admirable and seriously hard-fought win at St Mary’s.
90+1 min “Hi there,” says Filip Zec. “Not exactly sure how could Vestergaard have been ‘twisted inside out’ by Firmino for the third Pool goal as he was substituted earlier after Mo’s goal…”
My point exactly.
89 min Robertson is booked for handball just outside the area on the right. He slipped, so I’m not sure how deliberate it was, though he’d probably have been penalised for a foul on Sims anyway. On Sky Sports, Jamie Carragher is now in full Fanzone mode. It won’t be to all tastes but it should be easy to empathise with how he is feeling.
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88 min Liverpool make a change, with Naby Keita replaced by Dejan Lovren. This is such an impressive win for Liverpool because Southampton have played really well. And Mo Salah breaking the seal is a significant added bonus. I think they’ll win all their remaining games; whether that’s enough, who knows.
87 min “Axiomatic: if Liverpool’s would-be-legendary front three can’t get a goal against a relegation-threated side then they can’t credibly claim a right to the title,” wrote Eric J Schawb, a couple of milliseconds before Salah’s goal. “Certainly City’s front men wouldn’t go through this game without scoring at least once.
Firmino made the goal beautifully, twisting Vestergaard inside out on the right side of the area before slipping a low cross into the middle. Henderson, arriving late, stormed into the area to slap it past Gunn from six yards.
84 min Sadio Mane deserves credit for that goal as well. When the Southampton corner was half-cleared, he made a superb block-tackle 30 yards from goal. The ball was then headed forward by Henderson to Salah, who did the rest in a manner that will become immortal should Liverpool win the league.
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83 min A double change for Southampton: Charlie Austin and Stuart Armstrong replace Romeu and Vestergaard.
82 min It used to be said that 1-0s win titles. Liverpool are doing it slightly differently, with nerve-shredding 2-1 wins.
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The goal came from a Southampton corner. It was cleared to Salah, who scampered 50 yards and had a two against one with Firmino. I thought he should have passed to be honest, but he got the edge of the area and swept an emphatic left-footed shot across Gunn and into the corner. In the circumstances that is an immense finish, not least because he would have been slaughtered for selfishness had he not scored.
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77 min Liverpool are starting to look desperate – mostly in a good way – and the match has become really frantic. There’s a break in play while Bertrand and another Southampton player receive treatment. Klopp, meanwhile, is having an exchange of views with Redmond and Hojbjerg. It seems good-natured enough.
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76 min “I don’t agree about the no-penalty decision,” says Ric Arthur. “I think Keita could easily have jumped over Yoshida’s legs, but didn’t because he’d lost control of the ball. I think he initiated the contact, not Yoshida.”
But is it incumbent upon him to hurdle the challenge? You are right that he had lost control of the ball; whether that matters, I don’t know. I need to swot up on the laws of the game.
74 min: Great chance for Liverpool! Mane plays a brilliant pass down the left to Robertson – but he overhits a relatively straightforward cross to Salah, who was unmarked in front of goal. That’s so unlike Robertson, and Salah waves his hands in disgust.
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74 min “The Zutons are at Liverpool Olympia tonight,” says Charlie Taylor. “I think the band are waiting for the final whistle before they come on….and half the audience are glued to the Guardian football thread!”
I always knew I’d play a big venue one day.
73 min It’s all Liverpool now. Southampton get a bit of a breather when they cross the halfway line, and then Bertrand is warned for timewasting at a throw-in.
71 min “Obviously I’m not happy, but I’m not panicking yet,” lies Matt Dony. “I have to admit, there is a dirty little part of me that would love to see a scrappy 92nd-minute winner because of some horrendous defensive error, purely because it would be enough to make some City fans’ heads explode. I’m expecting them to win the league, so I’ll take whatever victories I can along the way.”
69 min We’ve just seen a replay of the Keita penalty appeal. In real time it looks like Keita may have played for it, but in slow motion it looks a clear penalty. Even if he did play for it, I think it was a foul because Yoshida slid across the line and would have taken him out regardless.
68 min All of a sudden, Southampton are hanging on. Milner’s corner comes to Henderson, whose chest-volley is accidentally blocked by van Dijk.
66 min: Brilliant block from Yoshida! Whether by accident or design, Firmino controlled Keita’s left-wing cross and lobbed it over the head of Vestergaard in the same movement, and when the ball sat up he lashed it towards goal from eight yards. Yoshida charged across to make a vital block.
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64 min It’s now Liverpool’s turn to dominate possession, with Southampton reverting to their counter-attacking approach. Mane, who looks very lively, plays a one-two with Salah before being crowded out in the area.
63 min “Somewhere seen on the grainy black-and-white screen of my memory there was a fine player named Shaqiri who made an excellent start to the season,” says Hubert O’Hearn. “Wonder what became of him?”
62 min Mane runs Bednarek down the left and cuts the ball back to Firmino, who mis-hits wide from eight yards with his left foot. That was a decent chance, albeit in a crowded area and with his weaker foot.
59 min Henderson and Milner replace Wijnaldum and Alexander-Arnold. That’s interesting but understandable, because Alexander-Arnold, though he created the goal, has had a difficult night defensively.
58 min: Big penalty appeal for Liverpool! Keita plays a one-two with Mane, surges into the area and goes over after a sliding challenge from Yoshida. Paul Tierney waves play on. I think that should have been a penalty, even though Keita had overrun the ball and was probably looking for it. It was still a foul for mine.
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