At The Match: Salah steps up as Reds march eight points clear with win over Saints
18:53 Share

When you need mealtime inspiration, it's worth shopping Fries for thousands of appetizing ingredients that inspire countless mouth-watering meals. And no matter what tasty choice you make, you'll enjoy our everyday low prices. Plus, extra ways to save, like digital coupons worth over $600 each week and up to $1 off per gallon at the pump with points. So you can get big flavors and big savings. Fries, fresh for everyone. Fuel restrictions apply.

The Athletic FC Podcast Network.

Hi Reds, James Pearce here, just finishing up at St Mary's Stadium after it finished Southampton 2, Liverpool 3. Coming up, we'll bring you all the best post-match reaction. We'll hear the best bits from Arna Schlott's press conference and my colleague Andy Jones will also drop in to give us his take on what was another dramatic afternoon in the Premier League for the Reds. Salah takes and Salah scores and Liverpool lead.

So it's all over here at St Mary's Stadium. Liverpool running out 3-2 victors over Southampton to move eight points clear to the final.

at the top of the Premier League table. How good does that sound? They had to fight real hard for that. It was far from a classic, game played in terrible conditions. I think we've seen this script so many times, haven't we, straight after an international break. So scrappy and disjointed, lots of mistakes as well. But all that really matters is that Liverpool found a way.

2-1 down with 25 minutes to go you can bet that their rivals were starting to think this would be one of the big upsets of the season but Mohamed Salah to the rescue yet again his double helping turn what would have been a hugely damaging defeat into a in

into a really defiant, resilient victory for Arnaud Schlott's side. Perfect in terms of kicking things off. What a huge week this is with Real Madrid to come in the Champions League at Anfield on Wednesday night and then Manchester City coming to Anfield next Sunday. And of course, Liverpool now in a position where if they were to beat Pep Guardiola's side, they could go 11 points clear of them, which would be absolutely

absolutely remarkable at the start of December. So, yeah, it was another day where there was a milestone for Mo Salah. His double means he's now scored 100 goals away from home for Liverpool in all competitions. He's just a remarkable athlete who just keeps rewriting the record books. He's only the third player in Liverpool's history to reach that landmark. Ian Rutsch got 161 on his travels for Liverpool. Roger Hunt, 112. And now Mo Salah,

has joined them in the Club of Centurions. And 12 goals, 10 assists for Salah in 18 games this season. You know, you begin to wonder what else does he need to do in terms of proving to the hierarchy that he is as important to Liverpool as he has ever been as that contract ticks down. Of course, we're in a position where in just over a month's time, he could potentially sign a pre-contract agreement with a club like

So nobody wants to see that happening because, as we saw once again here at St Mary's, he's still Liverpool's main match winner. Again, he dug them out of a hole. He'll certainly get the headlines. I'd also say that Ryan Gravenberg deserves huge credit.

you know what a performance that was from the Dutchman he's arguably been probably up there with Salah and Canarte Liverpool's player of the season so far and I thought I thought Canarte was was outstanding today both in terms of his work off the ball and his quality on it played a big part of course with the assist for the second goal but he just he's just such an elegant footballer so pleasing on the eye and he's um he continued his excellent form so far this season I thought slot

I thought, you know, I think he picked the right team, made three changes. Of course, Bradley in for Alexander-Arnold was enforced due to injury. I think the other two made sense, leaving out McAllister and Diaz after all the travel they've had with the games in South America. Zbozlai and Gagpo coming in. And of course, for Liverpool, it was all about trying to make sure they capitalised on that, you know,

City's absolute hammering at the hands of Tottenham a day earlier. And early on, you started to really understand that this was going to be far from straightforward. You think top v bottom, were Liverpool going to absolutely roll over Russell Martin's side? But I think in these conditions as well, they were a bit of a leveller. The rain lashing down, the wind swirling.

And yeah, Liverpool found it difficult. They made a lot of mistakes. They gave away a lot of cheap free kicks. It was kind of one of those days where you wondered where the breakthrough was going to come. And then I think in the end, when it did arrive on the half hour mark, it was an absolute gift, wasn't it? It was an accident waiting to happen the way Southampton do play out from the back. And it was a comedy there as really McCarthy

the goalkeeper giving it to Fernandes under pressure he gives it back to Downs who clearly didn't want it and he gives it straight to Dominic Zaboszlai who makes them pay with a curling finish that was Zaboszlai's first Premier League goal since January

You know, it's something that Slott has talked about, isn't it? That he thinks that he does need to have more goals and assists to his game. And that was, you know, a decent way to end that long, long wait for a top flight goal. Of course, the Bosley coming into this one after scoring a late winner for Hungary. So let's hope he can go from strength to strength. Certainly in that system as Slott's number 10, he should be contributing more in the final third. Of course, Liverpool were pegged back.

before the break in controversial fashion. Yes, they played themselves into trouble with Van Dijk losing it and then Robertson brought down Dibbling. But I must admit, I was pretty much in line with it and I thought it was outside the box. The referee gives a penalty. I saw it on the replay and I thought it's still outside the box. Yeah, don't ask me why, but Michael Oliver on VAR has taken another look and decided...

there wasn't conclusive enough evidence apparently that the referee had made the wrong call. I find that bizarre because surely a decision like that is like an offside. It's either inside or it's outside. And for me, the contact was outside.

Of course, if it had been on the line, it would have been a penalty. But I think Robertson was a bit unlucky there. And of course, Kelleher was also massively unfortunate. Saves the initial spot kick from Armstrong. But Armstrong is able to follow up and tuck away the rebound. And then into the second half, Liverpool were undone on the counter-attack. Far too easily, really. Again, dibbling to Armstrong. Three players went towards Armstrong and left Fernandes unmarked.

and he swept the ball past Kelleher and you know it was no surprise really off the back of that that Slott decided he'd seen enough and made what proved to be an absolutely pivotal double change Diaz and McAllister on for Jones and Gagpo and

I think within three or four minutes, Liverpool were level, as I mentioned before. Gravenberg's vision, a lovely lofted pass. Salah did what Salah does. Absolutely delightful first touch. Yes, McCarthy in absolutely no man's land. Some hapless goalkeeping from him. But Salah guiding it past the goalie into that empty net. And then I think you could just sense the mood around this stadium just completely changed because they knew that it was going to be like the Alamo.

inside that last 20 minutes. Diaz had a header, tipped over. McAllister went close from distance and then the winning goal came courtesy of a handball in the box. Salah stepping up, absolutely lashing home the spot kick to put Liverpool 3-2 up. Salah could have had a hat-trick late on, hit the inside of the post. He also skied another decent chance, but that didn't matter. The away end in absolute raptures late on.

singing about Liverpool being top of the league. They also serenaded Arnaud Schlott after the final whistle, after he went over to salute them. So Liverpool carrying on where they left off before the international break with another big, big win. Eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table. And now, you know, an absolutely mammoth week awaits with that small matter of Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday night and then Man City coming to Anfield on Sunday.

This is Walk On, your dedicated Liverpool podcast from The Athletic. First up in Arne Slot's press conference, he was asked for his assessment of the game and asked if he was over the moon after that hard-fought victory. Over the moon is a bit exaggerated, but of course we're really happy, especially because after an hour we were 2-1 down. Maybe that wasn't a reflection of how the first hour went, because I think we dominated the whole game.

which is not that easy. Maybe you think, "Ah, he played a number 20, this is what we expect." But I've seen many games of Southampton that they were dominating the game.

But in the end, if you're 2-1 down after an hour, you are maybe over the moon if you win it with 3-2. And next up, Slot was asked about the enduring brilliance of Mohamed Salah. Once again, he stepped up when Liverpool needed him here today with those two goals inside the last 25 minutes to turn what would have been a horrendous defeat into an absolutely joyous win. Yeah, we always know we can trust on him if things are difficult for us.

because after we went 2-1 down I didn't really feel that that was the moment we should score, and then out of a fantastic pass from Ryan Gravenberg though, but timing of the run and the way Mo finished it was special and I think that helped us really back into the game. Of course it's normal if you score a 2-2 it helps you back in the game, but we needed that goal maybe

to play the last 25 minutes that we played because for me then it was a matter of time before we scored a goal. In the first hour we dominated possession without really creating that much. In the last half hour we were dominating, or last 25 minutes, we were dominating with creating some chances.

Russell Martin had certainly sprung a few surprises with the line-up he picked here today. And Slot was asked how he reacted to Southampton's line-up pre-match when he saw that Onuachu was up top and Downs had come into the defence. What I do as a manager is I want to know their style of play. And sometimes it makes a bit of a difference if a number nine is high and tall or fast or slow. So it makes a bit of a difference, but I don't think they've changed their playing style.

Not in the way they lined up, 5-4-1. And also not in the way they like to play because the first goal we scored was from them trying to bring the ball out from the back. Which didn't happen a lot for them today and that did happen a lot in other games because I've shown the players yesterday how many times Southampton can play through a press.

but today I think that part of our game was quite good, that we were really aggressive with Artur Boll. Next, Slot was asked just how challenging is it to try and combine a challenge for glory both in Europe and domestically in the Premier League, when a side at the bottom such as Southampton can cause you such a scare like they did here today? Yeah, that is a difference. I agree with you that this league asks a lot from every player every weekend, and if you then play in Europe,

That's not always easy, only a few teams in England have shown that they can do this. Liverpool have shown it in the past for many seasons, the last two years that has been more difficult. But that's also why teams in England have such a big squad, because we top clubs have quite a lot of money, we can also make a bigger squad than maybe some other teams in other countries.

That's also what we need. You saw it today again, the three players that came in really had an impact on the game. And that is also what we need in this league. Slot was then informed that only twice in Premier League history has a side won 10 of their first 12 league matches and not gone on to win the title.

and he was asked for his view on the title race now that Liverpool have an eight-point cushion at the top. No, definitely, but we also know what we have to put into it to get these leads that we have at the moment and to get these wins. And I only have to show in the players' field that I think there were maybe one or two games for us that were wins by a big margin, but the rest of them were all by small margins. So we know...

how difficult it is to win a game and these players have been longer in the Premier League than I've been. But I think it was last season, even later on in the season, that Arsenal led by eight points and City came back. So you know if you face Arsenal, City, Chelsea and all these other teams that Tottenham was great yesterday as well. They are all able to win so many games in a row. So it's nice to have this position, but we are definitely not get carried away.

Alright Reds, Andy here. After watching Liverpool beat Southampton 3-2, extending the lead to the top of the table, an up-and-down game, I think it's fair to say from an emotional point of view, which wasn't helped by Liverpool conceding two goals, which has become a little bit of a... Well, it has been a rarity this season since Arne Schlott arrived. We've been so used to that strong, stable, calm unit led by Van Dijk and Canazze, and it certainly...

at times wasn't the case. There was a few defensive frailties in there which sort of felt like a little bit of going back to times towards the end of Klopp's reign when Liverpool were too open. They certainly didn't help themselves with the goal as they conceded. Van Dijk carelessly gives the ball away and Robertson shouldn't make the challenge whether it's in or out the penalty box.

Tyler Diblin was running away from goal, so stand them up, just keep them moving away from danger if you like. But I think there was times when both centre-backs looked a little bit shaky, I guess is the word to use. Ono Achi, the striker for Southampton, a bit of a surprise selection, really was a handful. He caused a number of problems in that first half, was able to hold the ball up, not just against the centre-backs, but obviously he was able to get Southampton with the pitching and counter-attacking and

and moving into space. And obviously, Canarte picks a button from a tangle with one of them. And yeah, it was, yeah, as I say, it was a surprise. I think, you know, in terms of the second one as well, was a little bit of what we saw in terms of Southampton being able to find spaces in and around Liverpool, central midfield, but bigger spaces than maybe we've seen other teams be able to expose or try and expose. Okay, the second goal comes from a counter-attack, but again, it's, you know, it's three runners away

when Diblin wins that first challenge against the Bosley, he plays it across and Adam Armstrong is free and then Fernandes ends up being free because Liverpool are overcompensating with too many players. In terms of whether it's a concern, I think it shouldn't be a concern yet given it's a sample size of one, if you like. We've seen Liverpool...

Looking at Liverpool's offensive record over the course of the season is a much better estimate. I imagine there'll be things that will be addressed by slot from what he's seen. But I guess when you consider the fixtures that Liverpool have got coming up, basically they need to make sure it doesn't become a theme and it's not the start of a theme of dropping back into maybe a few of the bad habits that looked like they'd gotten rid of.

But I think these can happen. It was a sticky game. The weather wasn't very nice to play in. And Southampton, as Slotts have said, are able to make fists of games and stay in games. And they do have players who can cause problems. And Tyler Diblin was certainly the one today who was powerful running, was a little bit too much for Liverpool at times. But I think all in all, it's not a concern yet.

But if it's a theme that continues, then I think it'll be something that Arnott Slatt needs to address sooner rather than later. For the latest subscription offers, head to theathletic.com forward slash LiverpoolPod. Well, that's all for me, James Pearce, here at St Mary's Stadium. For plenty more match reaction and analysis, check out The Athletic. I'll be back with Tony Evans and the rest of the team for this week's Walk On podcast. Thanks for joining me and I'll catch you then.

The Athletic FC Podcast Network.