Southampton 2 Liverpool 3: Salah to the rescue… but what happened behind the scenes? Was it a punishment?

On By Littum

Mohamed Salah scored twice in the second half to send Liverpool eight points clear at the top of the Premier League – but they made hard work of beating bottom club Southampton.

They trailed 2-1 with 25 minutes remaining, but a smart first-time finish from Salah drew Arne Slot’s side level before he hammered home an 83rd-minute penalty to secure victory.

Dominik Szoboszlai gave Liverpool the lead on the half-hour after Southampton’s insistence on playing out from the back cost them dearly and a routine victory looked to be on the cards. But the home side were just three minutes before the break when Andy Robertson’s foul on Tyler Dibling was adjudged to have happened just inside the box. Adam Armstrong’s penalty was saved by Caoimhin Kelleher, but the striker converted the rebound.

It got even better for Southampton 11 minutes after the break when Mateus Fernandes finished off excellent work by Dibling and Armstrong.

Slot soon introduced Luis Diaz and Alexis Mac Allister for Cody Gakpo and Curtis Jones and although Diaz had a great chance within a minute of joining Liverpool, it was only in the 65th minute when Salah coolly poked past the advancing goalkeeper Alex McCarthy.

The Egypt striker then converted from 12 yards after Yukinari Sugawara needlessly handled in the penalty area.

A tougher test awaits Liverpool next week, when Real Madrid and Manchester City both visit Anfield, but Slott’s team is comfortably in first place in both the Premier League and the Champions League.

Athletics‘s Andy Jones analyzes the talking points.

Where was the solid Liverpool of the Slot era so far?

Liverpool went into this match with the best defensive record in the league but looked a shadow of the solid structure Slot has implemented since his arrival back in the summer.

The defensive unit, led by centre-backs Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, has oozed composure in the first part of the season, conceding just six goals in the opening 11 games. Yet they were anything but the safe, steady force today against a Southampton side that had scored just seven in as many games.

Striker Paul Onuachu was a surprise choice by Russell Martin and he used his power and height to disrupt Liverpool’s central defense early on and help Southampton move up the field. Konate received a yellow card for a foul.


Konate struggled to handle Armstrong and Onuachu (Robin Jones/Getty Images)

The compact shape was also revealed, with Southampton’s midfielders finding plenty of space centrally to drive forward.

Dibling was the home side’s most impressive player, Liverpool unable to live with his possession and he was instrumental in Southampton’s second goal. He beat Szoboszlai to a forward ball and worked it to Armstrong, who set up Fernandes.

It was a sloppy Liverpool performance throughout the match, but with tough tests ahead, Slot must ensure today’s defensive woes are a blip rather than the start of a theme.

Can Liverpool afford to lose Salah?

When Liverpool needed one of their big players to dig them out of a hole, the Egyptian stepped forward again.

There was some luck in how they regained the lead as Salah ran onto a pass over the top and tapped into an empty net after McCarthy had left his goal to try and get to the ball first, but he also had the chance to look simple.

But there was no doubting his second as he slotted home a late penalty with full conviction following a handball from Suguwara.

It took him to 10 Premier League goals for the season and his only disappointment will be that he didn’t come away with the match ball after completing a hat-trick. He missed a handful of decent chances in the first half, then hit the post late on.

If Liverpool’s hierarchy had any sense, they would try to tie him down to a contract extension to replace the deal that expires next summer as soon as possible, because the longer they wait, the more Salah strengthens his case.

Even at the age of 32, he continues to be indispensable.

Was it a penalty for Southampton’s equaliser?

When Robertson hit Dibling just before half-time, referee Samuel Barrott took his time before pointing to the spot.

Those were the tightest calls. Initial replays suggested the foul had occurred outside the 18-yard box. Then, zoomed-in slow-motion footage of the incident showed that Dibling’s toe was in line with the Liverpool area when Robertson made his challenge.

Michael Oliver, the game’s VAR, who was criticized last month after asking referee David Coote to go to the screen for West Ham United’s late penalty that sealed victory against Manchester United, believed there was no conclusive evidence that that the contact took place outside the area and so the decision on the field was fixed.

(Grabs courtesy of NBC Sports Soccer on X)

Liverpool had only themselves to blame for the situation, with Van Dijk carelessly losing possession on the halfway line via an unnecessary flick and Robertson committing to the tackle as Dibling was forced wide.

Kelleher almost made up for it by saving the penalty from Armstrong, but the striker reacted quickest to make it 1-1 by netting the rebound.

What did Arne Slot say?

We’ll bring you this after he speaks at the post-match press conference.

What next for Liverpool?

Wednesday 27 November: Real Madrid (H), Champions League, at 20.00 Great Britain, at 3 p.m. ET

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(Top photo: Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)