Liverpool needed to dig deep in the second half of their Premier League clash against Southampton at Anfield on Saturday, after Will Smallbone handed an unlikely lead to the visitors in the first-half stoppage time. Darwin Nunez grabbed an equalizer in the 51st, and forced a foul by Smallbone inside the box three minutes later. Mohamed Salah was ruthless when he took the penalty, turning the game around, and he got another chance to score from the spot in the 88th minute when Yukinari Sugawara handled the ball inside the box. Firing past Aaron Ramsdale in the Southampton goal again, the Egyptian set the final score.
Teams
Liverpool boss Arne Slot had one rather important absence to deal with – his own, as he served the second and last match of his suspension for the red card he received at the end of the Merseyside Derby a few weeks ago. There were no new injury problems after the Paris Saint-Germain delight, the same players remained unavailable – forward Cody Gakpo, defenders Joe Gomez and Conor Bradley, and midfielder Tyler Morton.
With this game placed between the two legs of the Champions League round of 16, some degree of rotation was to be expected. One change was that Kostas Tsimikas started on the left defensive flank, forming the back line together with Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Trent Alexander-Arnold, ahead of Alisson Becker in goal. The other was Curtis Jones being picked ahead of Alexis Mac Allister in midfield, ing Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai. And the third was Nunez starting ahead of Diogo Jota up front, flanked by Luis Diaz and Salah.
Meanwhile, Igor Juric in the away dugout had an nearly full squad to choose from, with defender James Bree the only player missing out through a hamstring problem. A much bigger issue for the Saints, with all due respect, is the fact that there simply isn’t enough quality in their squad to compete in the Premier League, an unpleasant fact perfectly reflected by their position in the table, not to mention their miserable points tally.
Be that as it may, they do have an England international between the posts in Ramsdale. Ryan Manning and Kyle Walker-Peters flanked centre-backs Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Jan Bednarek. Smallbone paired up with Chelsea loanee Leslie Ugochukwu in the middle of the park, while the trio of Kamaldeen Sulemana, Mateus Fernandes and Tyler Dibbling ed striker Albert Gronbaek in attack.
First-half shocks
Liverpool expectedly dominated possession from the start but, apart from one narrowly missed chance by Jones early on, they never looked like creating much. Southampton defender well and occasionally sought to hit on the counterattack, but that too looked poorly organized for a long spell.
With eighteen minutes gone, Juric was forced to make the first change of the game after Bednarek and Manning clashed heads and went down. Manning recovered sufficiently to play on, but Bednarek couldn’t continue and the Southampton captain had to make way for Armel Bella-Kotchap.
Late in the first half, Nunez appeared very frustrated by his lack of efficiency up front, and needlessly earned a yellow card for deliberately whacking Walker-Peters from behind. The VAR briefly considered the situation with a view of recommending an red, but there really wasn’t enough in it – certainly reckless, but hardly endangering the opponent.
Neither side managed to give the opposition goalkeeper much to worry about, practically until the opening 45 minutes had expired. But then, a miscommunication between Van Dijk and Alisson resulted in a scramble which saw the ball reach Smallbone, and the Saints midfielder fired low to hit the back of the net. It was a cold shower for the would-be champions and their ers.
League leaders step up
However, the break saw Liverpool assistant coach John Heitinga make a triple change: Jones, Tsimikas and Szoboszlai made way for Mac Allister, Andy Robertson, and Harvey Elliott, the Paris hero.
Ruffled by jeers from the away section of the stands, Nunez showed great awareness in a tight space to convert after Diaz broke down the left, getting to the ball before two defenders to divert it past Ramsdale and get the score back level. It was therefore no great surprise that he celebrated by putting a finger to his lips, signaling the Southampton fans to be quiet.
The goal, along with the changes made, gave Liverpool fresh energy and only three minutes later, another well-worked attack got the ball into the visitors’ box, resulting in Smallbone turning from hero to villain for his team as he whacked Nunez from behind. Referee Lewis Smith had no doubts whatsoever as he blew the whistle and pointed to the spot, and for all of Smallbone’s protests, the VAR had no reason to intervene. Salah stepped up and quite decisively fired his team ahead.
At that point, Juric saw the need to make some changes himself, with just over an hour gone, the invisible pair of Dibling and Gronbaek made way for Sugawara and Cameron Archer. With 20 minutes to go, Smallbone left the pitch to be replaced by Adam Lallana, somewhat of a legend at both Southampton and Liverpool, having captained the Saints before going on to win the Champions League and the Premier League with the Merseysiders.
But unlike Heitinga’s, the substitutions Juric made had no great effect on the flow of the game. The only real effect was the second penalty conceded as Sugawara, under pressure from Diaz, deliberately poked the ball away with his elbow inside the box. The referee actually missed that, but the VAR reacted this time and sent him to the pitch-side screen. Once Smith had seen what had happened, there was no other possibility for him but to point to the spot again. Salah took the chance with relish, raising his tally at the top of the Premier League goalscoring chart to 27, seven more than Manchester City striker Erling Haaland in second place.
Darwin Nunez
Nunez has certainly failed to live up to the expectations imposed by his sizable transfer fee when he ed Liverpool from Benfica in the summer of 2022. The Uruguay international has shown glimpses of vast talent and top-class quality, he scored some absolutely crucial goals for Liverpool and some great ones against top rivals as well.
However, the fact is, he simply hasn’t done it with nearly enough consistency to establish himself as a reliable attacking player. Some of the numerous glaring misses over the last nearly three years in the red shirt will likely haunt him for a long time.
But when it comes to this particular game, his performance personified that of the entire team. With too little concentration and too much frustration, he appeared to be the likeliest man to remain in the dressing room after the break, but he was given another chance.
And he certainly took it, scoring a deft equalizer and forcing the penalty which turned the score around in his team’s favour, all within 10 minutes from the restart.
The 25-year-old striker recently achieved arguably an even more heroic feat, coming on from the bench against Brentford to jeers from the Community Stadium stands, to score twice in second-half stoppage time.
Nonetheless, a top team needs its attackers to perform with a high level of consistency, and according to several sources, if a suitable offer for his services arrives, Nunez will be allowed to leave Liverpool this summer.
Race over for both?
Liverpool now lead Arsenal in the Premier League title race by 16 points, though with two games played more. The Gunners will have a chance to reduce that deficit on Sunday when they travel to face Manchester United on Sunday and then again at home against Chelsea next week as Liverpool play in the Carabao Cup final, but even if they win both, it would still leave a hardly surmountable mountain to climb for Mikel Arteta’s team. So is the title race over?
Probably.
At the other end of the table, the race is even less likely to open up for Southampton. Their tally of nine points from 28 matches gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “rock bottom”. There’s eight points separating them from Leicester City and Ipswich Town, keeping them company in the relegation zone, and entire 14 between the Saints and Wolves in 17th place, which warrants survival at the end of the season.
It’s very hard to imagine Juric’s team winning 14 points at all between now and the end of the season, let alone overtaking a team sitting 14 points ahead with 10 games to go. So, is this race over?
Definitely.
Be that as it may, Liverpool now face a hard task of withstanding another PSG charge, entering the second leg at Anfield with a one-goal lead, before taking on Newcastle in the cup final. As for Southampton, their fate woes will be even more pronounced if they don’t win their home game against Wolves next week.
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