Postmortem: Final Thoughts as Liverpool Beat Southampton to Move Eight Points Clear | OneFootball

Southampton 2 – 3 Liverpool – The Postmortem

This game had additional meaning following Manchester City’s 0-4 loss at home to Tottenham on Saturday afternoon. The chance to move eight points clear at the pinnacle of the Premier League would have created heavy pressure. However, when a team struggling to meet the requirements demanded an experienced talisman, an Egyptian King was very much on hand to deliver.

Below is how the team lined up, with match details following.

The Starting Eleven

Caoimhin Kelleher, Conor Bradley, Ibrahima Konaté, Virgil van Dijk (c), Andy Robertson, Curtis Jones, Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch, Mohamed Salah, Darwin Núñez, Cody Gakpo

Subs

Luis Díaz – Cody Gakpo (62 mins)

Alexis Mac Allister – Curtis Jones (62 mins)

Wataru Endō – Darwin Núñez (90 mins)

Goals (Assisted by)

Southampton 0 – 1 Liverpool: Dominik Szoboszlai – 30 mins

Southampton 1 – 1 Liverpool: Adam Armstrong – 42 mins

Southampton 2 – 1 Liverpool: Mateus Fernandes (Adam Armstrong) – 52 mins

Southampton 2 – 2 Liverpool: Mohamed Salah (Ryan Gravenberch) – 65 mins

Southampton 2 – 3 Liverpool: Mohamed Salah (Penalty) – 83 mins

Photo: IMAGO

Important Match Stats

Possession: Southampton 38% – 62% Liverpool

Total Shots: Southampton 7 – 27 Liverpool

Corner Kicks: Southampton 3 – 10 Liverpool

Offsides: Southampton 0 – 1 Liverpool

Fouls: Southampton 11 – 9 Liverpool

Goalkeeper Saves: Southampton 8 – 3 Liverpool

The First Half

The opening period of this game was a scrappy affair, as the returning players (who had been on international duty) looked to reassert themselves within a domestic competition once again. The lineup saw Alexis Mac Allister rested from his usual starting eleven positions, something which allowed the off-ball pressing abilities of Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai to emerge.

Following some roughhousing by Ibrahima Konaté in his defensive output and some rather infective offensive play by the visitors, eventually, the Saint’s young manager, Russell Martin, saw his on-ball initiative implode within his team’s own 18-yard box. They want to continually play out is a courageous endeavour, however, when such a pattern of play goes wrong against European heavyweights, it will often lead to a goal-scoring opportunity.

With Curtis Jones pressing and Dominik Szoboszlai well positioned nearby, the Hungarian skipper was able to receive the ball on the edge of the box, before placing a lovely left-footed curling effort into the far corner. The decision by Arne Slot to attack the passing regime of the hosts had paid off and the Reds were 0-1 up.

Photo: IMAGO

After a few minutes of back-and-forth football, Liverpool’s head coach saw the worst characteristics of his players rise to the fore. With on-pitch control sometimes comes complacency, which was a prominent issue under the previous regime. Virgil van Dijk was far too relaxed on the halfway and after a loss of possession, Andy Robertson found himself attacked at pace by the brilliant young winger, Tyler Dibling.

In an error of positional judgment, the Scotland captain allowed the teenager to close in on his own 18-yard box, before knocking the ball beyond the flailing veteran. With a foul committed, the borderline position of the infringement was awarded as a penalty, something which VAR backed up despite the playback pointing to a foul outside of the box.

With Adam Armstrong set to take the resulting spot kick, his strike was gallantly saved by Caoimhin Kelleher, however, the Irishman was unable to stop the close-range rebound being dispatched by the original taker. The half ended with the game in the balance and the travelling support concerned about missed opportunities.

The Second Half

On the resumption of the second half, no changes were made by the title-challenging away side, as the Liverpool head coach sent out the same eleven men which had ended the first half.

With more possession came a lacklustre level of output, until more questionable work by the league leaders allowed the young man of the moment, Tyler Dibling, the chance to scamper away once more. The disarray of the Liverpool back line was almost comical as they backpedaled to halt a well-organised attack. Ultimately, the lack of structure (off ball) created too many openings and eventually, a smart pair of passes ended in an even smarter finish by the resulting scorer, Mateus Fernandes.

With LFC alterations already on the pitch, the underwhelming nature of Slot’s men appeared to regenerate somewhat, as they fought their way back into the contest. Luis Díaz missed a glaring chance created by Darwin Núñez, as the intensity gradually rose to lay the groundwork for a fitting finale.

Photo: IMAGO

The equalizer was crafted by the Dutchman, Ryan Gravenberch, who placed a sublime through ball into the path of the forward surging Salah. The left footed no. 11 was able to get to the ball first and prod home beyond the advancing keeper, Alex McCarthy, who had departed his line with far too much haste.

The winning goal was perhaps lucky in its inception, as a swirling ball sent into the box was handled by Saints defender, Yukinari Sugawara. An immediate penalty was awarded for the team in the ascendancy, thus allowing the ideal opportunity for the previous goal scorer, Mohamed Salah, to end the contest with his second goal. Following a run up full of confidence and purpose, the spot kick was dispatched into the top corner and the game was back in the hands of the Premier League’s number one side.

With a fair degree of game management and some mild attacking moments, only a post hit by the man with a two-goal brace was noteworthy until the final whistle.

What Are My Final Thoughts?

This was a contest that was always going to be in the balance, given the swirling winds and returning national heroes. Though the contest was a turgid affair, it can act as one to get the wrinkles out of the stable of Reds, before Real Madrid and then Manchester City arrive on Merseyside.

Pre-match Prediction: Southampton 0 – 2 Liverpool