Southampton dared to anger Anfield and Liverpool.
They stunned Arne Slot’s team by taking the lead through Will Smallbone in the closing stages of the first half — but it only served to bring the home side, and the crowd, to life as Liverpool took another stride towards the title with a 21st league win of the season from 29 matches. The gap is now 16 points to Arsenal in second.
Bottom side Southampton, with just two league wins all campaign in their 28 fixtures, kept Liverpool quiet before taking the lead in the first minute of added time through Smallbone after a calamitous mix-up between captain Virgil van Dijk and goalkeeper Alisson.
Darwin Nunez then escaped with a yellow card after a tackle on Kyle Walker-Peters and Slot, serving the second match of his touchline ban after being sent off at the end of the recent derby draw with Everton, responded by ordering a triple half-time substitution.
Harvey Elliott, Alexis Mac Allister and Andrew Robertson replaced Dominik Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones and Kostas Tsimkas respectively and the changes worked a treat. Liverpool were ahead within nine minutes of the restart — Nunez levelling from a Luis Diaz cross before he then won a penalty, which Mohamed Salah converted.
Salah added a late third from the spot — after Yukinari Sugawara handled — to go joint fifth with Sergio Aguero in the all-time Premier League goalscoring charts with 184.
The Athletic’s Andrew Jones analyses the talking points.
What were Van Dijk and Alisson doing?
After being at their defensive best against Manchester City and in the second half against Paris Saint-Germain recently, Liverpool were anything but for the opening goal.
Alisson, fresh off a sensational performance against PSG, and Van Dijk, who has been a standout throughout the campaign, were involved in a dreadful mix-up and Will Smallbone took advantage.
As half time approached, Southampton had a throw-in on the left-hand side. Smallbone ran away from Nunez and was not picked up by any Liverpool midfielder as he surged into the box.
Van Dijk came across and got his body in front of the Southampton midfielder, choosing to try and shepherd the ball back for goalkeeper Alisson to collect instead of clear his lines, despite the latter being a more sensible option.
Alisson was slow to react and Southampton’s Mateus Fernandes had also made his way into the box. The hesitation allowed Fernandes to apply extra pressure, resulting in Alisson making a mess of trying to clear the ball with his feet.
Smallbone reacted quickest and placed a composed finish past the scrambling Liverpool goalkeeper to give Southampton a surprise lead.
Smallbone pokes Southampton in front (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
It is not the first time Alisson and Van Dijk have been involved in a mix-up, Arsenal away being one example — but after a flat first half from Liverpool a collective error from their two senior players was not what they needed.
Did Nunez take his chance?
After his crucial assist in his 23 minute cameo against PSG, Nunez was given his first start since Liverpool’s 4-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup over a month ago.
Substitute appearances against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa last month had seen head coach Arne Slot criticise the striker’s “behaviour” publicly. His performance in midweek was a step forward and he had the chance to build on it against Southampton.
He did exactly that as in the blink of an eye he scored the equaliser and then won a penalty in the space of two minutes as Liverpool turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead shortly after half-time.
Up to that point it had been a difficult afternoon for the No 9. Liverpool were sluggish in possession in the opening 45 minutes and the half chances Nunez got — a close range header, a shot from the edge of the area and an overhead kick — he did not put away.
There was plenty of work-rate out of possession but his frustrations did begin to show as a late challenge on Walker-Peters was checked for a red card, but onfield referee Lewis Smith’s decision of a yellow card stood.
Slot made three changes at half time but chose to stick with his striker. The decision paid off. First his movement saw him beat Armel Bella-Kotchap to the near post to steer in a low Diaz cross. Then he was fouled by a clumsy Smallbone in the box from the next attack and Salah dispatched the resulting penalty.
Nunez celebrates his goal with Robertson (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Slot shows he’s not to be messed with
Slot was clearly not happy with what he had seen from his side in the first half and was proactive and decisive with three changes at half time.
It had been a sloppy and sluggish first 45 minutes from Liverpool. They were careless in possession and didn’t have the usual zip and sharpness to their play. Slot had seen enough and introduced Robertson, Mac Allister and Elliott for Szoboszlai, Jones and Tsimikas.
The impact of the three changes was almost immediate as Elliott forced a save from Ramsdale in the opening minutes and it ignited the Anfield crowd.
The 21-year-old, fresh off scoring the winner against PSG was at his typical busy best, knitting Liverpool’s attack together and adding speed and impetus when on the ball.
Mac Allister provided his side with more control in the middle of the park, using the ball smartly to start attacks.
Slot was not happy in the first half – in the stands (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Robertson provided an upgrade on Tsimikas after the Greece international had endured a difficult afternoon and his front-foot defending and running from deep provided an extra attacking dimension.
Collectively they added an energy that had been missing from Liverpool’s first half performance and that spread across the rest of the team with a number of players — including Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez — much improved after the break.
What did Arne Slot say?
We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.
What next for Liverpool?
Tuesday, March 11: Paris Saint-Germain (Home), Champions League last 16 second leg, 8pm UK, 3pm ET
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(Top photo: Salah celebrates after converting his penalty. Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
