EPL: Liverpool spank Saints, climb up to third

Liverpool has climbed back up to third in the Premier League table courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Southampton at St Mary’s on Sunday.
Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah combined for both goals at the beginning and end of the first half as Liverpool returned to winning ways in the top flight, handing Jurgen Klopp his 50th Premier League victory as manager.
Southampton were unable to fight back in the second half as they end the weekend in the bottom three and a point from safety, while Liverpool climb back up to third after momentarily dropping a place following Tottenham Hotspur’s win over Arsenal on Saturday.
The Reds have now lost just one of their last 18 Premier League games, whereas Southampton equal an unwanted club record of seven successive home games without a Premier League victory.
Things only got worse in the opening stages of the match too as Liverpool broke the deadlock after just six minutes, with Salah pouncing on a mistake from Wesley Hoedt before teeing up Firmino, who buried his confident first-time finish into the bottom corner.
It was a sloppy start from the home side, and Liverpool almost doubled their advantage shortly afterwards when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – one of five former Southampton players in the visitors’ matchday squad, including January arrival Virgil van Dijk – saw his deflected drive kept out by Alex McCarthy.
Southampton did soon begin to settle into the game, though, and Jack Stephens had their first shot on goal when he dragged a long-range effort wide of the target while looking to score for a fourth successive game.
It was Liverpool who added the game’s second goal against the run of play, though, adding a late first-half strike to their early one as Salah and Firmino once again combined to devastating effect.
Firmino collected the ball from Salah before producing an exquisite flick back into the Egyptian’s path, and Salah made no mistake with his finish into the bottom corner for his 29th goal of the season.
The two-goal lead was harsh on Southampton going into half time, but it almost got worse in the opening stages of the second half when Mane’s acrobatic effort was blocked and fell at the feet of Salah, although this time the prolific winger scooped his finish over the crossbar.