Liverpool moved eight points clear at the top of the Premier League thanks to a hard-fought 3-2 win over Southampton.
Arne Slot’s side took the lead when Dominik Szoboszlai curled the ball home after half an hour, before Adam Armstrong struck from close range after his spot-kick was saved three minutes before half-time.
Southampton took the lead against regulation in the 56th minute through Mateus Fernandes before Mohamed Salah leveled the match nine minutes later.
The Egyptian converted for the winning goal from the penalty spot after a handball from Saints defender Yukinari Sugawara.
Mail Sport’s LEWIS STEELE was in St Mary’s to bring you our player ratings.
SOUTHAMPTON (5-3-2)
Alex McCarthy-7.5
Was the best player on the pitch in the first half with smart stops to deny the likes of Salah, Gakpo and Szoboszlai. The veteran goalkeeper has been a great servant to the Saints over the years. Excellent acrobatic save to deny Diaz in the second half.
Kyle Walker-Peters – 6.5
Started on the right but moved to the left to deal with Salah and Bradley. Did a good job overall.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis – 7.5
Playing with confidence after making his debut and goal in the England first team.
Flynn Downes-6.5
Played in the center of a back three and was responsible for Liverpool’s equalizer. Instead of clearing the ball, he passed straight to goalscorer Szoboszlai, who stood unmarked on the edge of the penalty area. Careless, negligent mistake – but from then on he was outstanding.
Jack Stephens-6.5
I was able to handle Nunez well for most of the match. Made some important blocks in the second half, especially when Liverpool started to pile on the pressure.
Ryan Fraser-7
Played in an unorthodox full-back position, but barely put a foot wrong. It also made a good contribution in an attacking sense.
Tyler Dibling-8
A star in the making. Dibling was Saints’ brightest spark with several drives from midfield. One of these, in the first half, led to the penalty that Armstrong converted. The 18-year-old continued to cause problems after the break and contributed to their second.
Adam Lallana – 5 (booked)
A nasty tackle on Gravenberch was the only notable contribution before he went off injured to the applause of every fan in St Mary’s – including those of his former employers Liverpool.
Mateus Fernandes-7
After a blistering run from midfield, he scored his goal excellently. It would have been easier to let the nerves get the better of me, but a fantastic finish.
Paul Onuachu-6
The big striker caused problems on Liverpool’s back line and kept the ball fairly high. Went out injured early in the second half.
Adam Armstrong-7.5
An energetic presence even when service was limited. Wanted a penalty when felled by Konate but didn’t get it, but converted his own with confidence at the end of the first half.
Substitutes
Joe Aribo (for Lallana, 37min) – 6Lesley Ugochukwu (for Onuachu, 52) – 6Cameron Archer (for Armstrong, 77), Yuki Sugawara (for Fraser, 77)
Not used: Joe Lumley, Ryan Manning, James Bree, Kamaldeen Sulemana, Ben Brereton-Diaz.
LIVERPOOL (4-2-3-1)
Caoimhin Kelleher-7
Very unhappy with Armstrong’s penalty after he saved the first attempt but couldn’t deflect it from the attacker’s path for the rebound. Kelleher made a great save to deny Downes a few minutes earlier, and his distribution was good in the poor conditions.
Conor Bradley – 5.5
Came forward well and overall won his defensive duels on the right side. However, it could have helped more for Saints’ second goal.
Ibrahima Konate – 5 (booked)
He captained France during the international break, but this was not his best afternoon. Gave the ball away easily several times and was also passed past by attackers a few times.
Virgil van Dijk-5
Cheap loss of possession for Southampton’s equalizer, with the ball given away in the move that led to the penalty being awarded.
Andy Robertson-5
He is facing questions for the first time in his Liverpool career as his form has not been near his blistering best in recent weeks. It was Robertson who fouled out for Southampton’s first-half equalizer with an ill-timed tackle. But in the second half it was brilliant.
Ryan Gravenberch-7
Some silky touches and passes in deep midfield and the icing on the cake was a confident performance with a wonderful assist for Salah.
Curtis Jones-5.5
Had some fine moments but could not reproduce the blistering displays of recent weeks in which he has flourished for club and country.
Mohamed Salah – 8 (MOTM)
There are no superlatives for Salah, who once again contributed to the victory with an excellent brace. Before then he was quiet – apart from a few half-chances here and there – but he came up trumps when it mattered, which says a lot about the quality of the Egyptian.
Dominik Szoboszlai – 7.5
Looked sharp in the opening phase with some shots, darting runs and nice passes. Got his reward to open the scoring after 30 minutes with a well-executed curling effort. Probably Liverpool’s best player.
Cody Gakpo-6
Quiet in the first half, but went close when he cut in from the left and forced a good save from McCarthy.
Darwin Nunez-6
Got a lot of shouting from the home fans – ‘you’re just so *** Andy Carroll’ – after miscuing a few pass and shot attempts. He tracked back for Saints’ second goal but appeared to give up running back and lost his man, goalscorer Fernandes.
Substitutes
Alexis Mac Allister (for Jones, 62min) – 6Luis Diaz (for Gakpo, 62) – 6Wataru Endo (for Nunez, 89)
Not used: Harvey Davies, Viteszlaw Jaros, Harvey Elliott, Joe Gomez, Tyler Morton, Jarell Quansah.
Referee: Sam Barrett6.
Presence: 31, 278.