Liverpool extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table to eight points after downing Southampton 3-2 in a thrilling contest on Sunday afternoon.

Many would’ve expected the Reds to coast to victory on the south coast, but the Saints ensured the league leaders had to work incredibly hard for all three points. Mohamed Salah continued his excellent scoring run and turned the contest on its head in the second half with two goals.

Russell Martin’s side almost caught a sub-par Liverpool out on Sunday, but they were once again forced to settle for nothing despite impressing in patches. Their quest for survival looks tougher with every passing week.

How the match unfolded

Manchester City’s humiliating defeat to Tottenham at the Etihad on Saturday meant Liverpool knew they had the chance to extend their lead at the Premier League’s summit to eight points heading into Sunday’s clash.

Arne Slot’s Reds showed hints of rustiness upon their return from the final international break of the calendar year early on at St. Mary’s, with Southampton offering some exuberance out of possession and enjoying success when playing through Liverpool’s press.

Even if they stuttered through the opening exchanges, the visitors were still able to pepper Alex McCarthy’s goal from the edge of the box. Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo both tried their luck at beating the Saints keeper at his near post.

Liverpool then started to assert themselves on the contest, but they had a woeful Southampton sequence to thank for handing them the lead. Dominik Szoboszlai finished smartly with his weaker left foot after the home side played themselves into trouble. However, the visitors then caught the sloppiness bug when attempting to play out of the back, with an erroneous Virgil van Dijk back heel leading to Andy Robertson giving away a penalty for bringing down Tyler Dibling.

Adam Armstrong levelled for the hosts despite having his spot-kick saved.

The Premier League’s bottom dwellers carried the momentum gained from the end of the first half into the second period as Mateus Fernandes rounded off a superb counter-attack to give Southampton a shock lead.

However, a feverish St. Mary’s was quickly tamed by a Mohamed Salah equaliser after McCarthy was caught in no man’s land when attempting to charge down and claim Ryan Gravenberch’s lofted pass in behind.

A Liverpool onslaught was inevitable in the aftermath as they sought to claim all three points, but Southampton offered some resistance amid sustained Reds pressure. Slot’s side struggled to test the woeful McCarthy after drawing level but, once again, they were gifted a chance to take the lead when substitute Yukinari Sugawara was penalised for handball with ten minutes remaining. McCarthy could’ve atoned for previous errors up against Salah from the spot, but the Egyptian finished with aplomb from 12 yards.

Salah threatened to run up the score in the closing stages, but he failed to net his third as Liverpool settled for a slender and far from routine triumph on the south coast.

*Ratings provided by FotMob*

GK: Alex McCarthy – 6.2/10 – McCarthy was the major reason why Liverpool won this game.

RB: Kyle Walker-Peters – 6.5/10 – Sturdy for the most part. Walker-Peters only had issues when Liverpool overloaded his flank. He defended well one-on-one.

CB: Taylor Harwood-Bellis – 6.3/10 – A stable head amid the mayhem of Southampton’s build-up. The recently-capped England defender made a couple of timely interventions at the back post, and he stuck out in this backline with his ability to progress play.

CB: Flynn Downes – 5.3/10 – He’s no Franz Beckenbauer, that’s for sure. Downes was confident on the ball but guilty of overplaying at times.

CB: Jack Stephens – 6.1/10 – Never looked comfortable defending the back post and certainly didn’t enjoy matching up with Salah in space as the contest neared its conclusion.

LB: Ryan Fraser – 6.1/10 – The Scot provided plenty of hustle and bustle from an unfamiliar position. Didn’t offer much going forward, but he did his job for just shy of 80 minutes.

RM: Tyler Dibling – 7.1/10 – The heartbeat of Southampton’s performance. Dibling was forced into plenty of defensive work before bursting into life offensively after receiving Van Dijk’s back heel.

CM: Mateus Fernandes – 7.5/10 – The young midfielder had a tough job in the middle of the park, but he performed pretty well as he netted his first Premier League goal.

CM: Adam Lallana – 6.7/10 – Unfortunately looks set for another spell on the sidelines after pulling up in the first half with a suspected hamstring issue. Lallana offered moments of craft and guile before his withdrawal.

LM: Adam Armstrong – 7.6/10 – Fortunate to get on the scoresheet after his penalty was saved, but we’ve seen plenty panic when attempting to convert the rebound. Armstrong was cool. Worked tirelessly defensively.

ST: Paul Onuachu – 6.8/10 – Operated as a reliable focal point while he was on the field. Onuachu produced several excellent sequences holding the ball up and switching the play.

Substitutes

SUB: Joe Aribo (37′ for Lallana) – 6.3/10

SUB: Lesley Ugochukwu (52′ for Onuachu) – 6.4/10

SUB: Cameron Archer (77′ for Armstrong) – 6.1/10

SUB: Yukinari Sugawara (77′ for Fraser) – 5.9/10

Unused subs: Joe Lumley (GK), James Bree, Ryan Manning, Ben Brereton Diaz, Kamaldeen Sulemana.

Manager

Russell Martin – 7/10 – Martin’s novel approach caught Liverpool napping, but Southampton must continue to play through their focal point up top. They don’t have what it takes to reliably build-up play. Aaron Ramsdale’s absence was hard felt.

GK: Caoimhin Kelleher – 7.5/10 – Saved well from Downes at 1-0 and was unlucky to concede to Armstrong after saving his penalty. Quieter in the second half.

RB: Conor Bradley – 6.5/10 – Bradley looked comfortable infield and was content with overlapping Salah in the opening period. Booked relatively early on.

CB: Ibrahima Konate – 6.6/10 – This was a performance we haven’t seen from Konate this season. Clumsy and laden with concentration lapses.

CB: Virgil van Dijk – 6.9/10 – His build-up error was uncharacteristic, but it gave Southampton a sniff. Van Dijk didn’t have it all his own way up against Onuachi, with the Dutchman appearing much more comfortable once the Southampton striker went off.

LB: Andy Robertson – 7.4/10 – Offered a threat on the overlap early on, but Robertson was unable to maintain his forward thrust for the duration. There were a couple of defensive lapses, but the left-back otherwise impressed.

CM: Ryan Gravenberch – 8.2/10 – The Dutchman was instrumental again. He has a knack for not needing to touch the ball to outmanoeuvre opponents, and Gravenberch’s silky efficiency was on full show throughout. His ball in behind led to Salah’s second-half equaliser.

CM: Curtis Jones – 6.1/10 – Jones supplied calm in the build-up phase and was instrumental in forcing panic in the Southampton box before Szoboszlai opened the scoring. Withdrawn on the hour.

RM: Mohamed Salah – 9.2/10 – Had been a fairly frustrating afternoon for Salah before McCarthy’s positional adventure allowed him to equalise. He ran amok thereafter and could’ve netted four or five after securing Liverpool’s win from the spot.

AM: Dominik Szoboszlai – 8.7/10 – The Hungarian international’s strike was pinpoint, and he could barely put one foot in front of the other in the closing stages having run himself into the ground.

LM: Cody Gakpo – 7.5/10 – Started the contest well with his back post crosses proving a threat. Substitution on the hour seemed harsh.

ST: Darwin Nunez – 6.8/10 – The Uruguayan toiled without much reward on the south coast, although he should’ve teed up Luis Diaz from close range almost immediately after the Colombian star entered the fray.

Substitutes

SUB: Alexis Mac Allister (62′ for Jones) – 6.5/10

SUB: Luis Diaz (62′ for Gakpo) – 6.8/10

SUB: Wataru Endo (89′ for Nunez) – N/A

Unused subs: Vitezslav Jaros (GK), Jarell Quansah, Joe Gomez, Harvey Elliott, Tyler Morton.

Manager

Arne Slot – 6/10 – Liverpool weren’t great here, but there issues weren’t systematic. Individuals let Slot down at St. Mary’s, but they were still able to get the job done.

Player of the match: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

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