After a memorable win against PSG during the week, Liverpool welcomed Southampton to Anfield on Saturday. This match saw Liverpool aiming to maintain their 100% record in the Premier League this season and maintain it they did, thanks to Salah and his band of winning warriors.
Liverpool were aware that nothing but a win would be good enough against a Southampton side which was definitely inferior in terms of quality. It was clear that Liverpool had this in mind as they started very brightly early on when Shaqiri and Salah almost combined perfectly to give Liverpool the lead. Southampton blushes were saved then due to an intervention from Hoedt. However, Hoedt was soon to turn villain for the saints as Hoedt ended up putting the ball into his own net on 10 minutes due to a nasty deflection which he could do nothing about.
The Saints tried to get back into the match with a couple of set pieces as they tried to take advantage of their huge physical presence in the box. The Saints had a penalty appeal turned down when Redmond seemed to be clipped by Firmino inside the box, however replays did not seem to support a solid spot kick claim. The Saints attacking attempts, however, were expertly dealt with by Liverpool and their attacks soon started to fade.
Salah could have put Liverpool further ahead and comfortable when he was played in with a one two with Firmino midway through the first half. However, a power intervention from Cedric made sure that the score was kept respectable. However, that last-minute intervention was only a temporary reprieve, as the resulting corner ended up doubling the Liverpool advantage.
The second goal came from Joel Matip as he battled to get to the ball ahead of Vestergaard and nodded home to make sure that Liverpool were two up even before halftime. It was quite obvious that Liverpool were in the ascendancy and the Saints tried to keep the score respectable before the break.
Liverpool nearly made it 3-0 when Salah produced a nice bit of improvisation to back heel the ball narrowly wide of the post after making a fine run into the box. The move looked to have broken down when Salah lost control of the ball, however some quick thinking saw him try the back heel, which nearly paid off.
However, things were to take a turn for the worse after Liverpool were given a free kick close to the penalty area. Shaqiri took control of the free kick and delivered a stunning curling ball across the wall and straight into the crossbar. This was a ball that the goalkeeper had no reply to, the Saints seem to have been saved by the crossbar only for Salah to prod home from close distance. There seemed no way through for the Saints as they looked lost and confused on how they had gotten themselves into this mess. When the whistle ended the first half, they probably felt they had been saved total annihilation.
The first half seemed to have seen most of the action as neither side showed any particular interest in scoring in the second half. Salah had the ball in the back of the net late on but was adjudged to have been offside. Liverpool would be very happy with this result as they maintained their 100% record in the Premier League. This of course, translates to being top of the league for yet another week, unless Chelsea also win on Sunday against West Ham.
I have to give commiseration to fellow Scorum member @marcusbraeburn who is a Saints fan, though I doubt many teams will go to Anfield this season and get a result, so I think we will both be in a lot of company during the coming weeks and months.
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