Never in doubt.
Two changes for the Tricky Reds tonight, as Bobby was dropped and Fabinho moved back into his midfield protector role, meaning that Nat and Rhys Williams started as our central defensive partnership.
A lively start saw Sadio spurn a decent opportunity, beating Vestergaard but blazing over in the tenth minute. Eight minutes later, Salah opted to shoot from a tight angle when rolling the ball across to an unmarked Mané would probably have been more productive. Phillips planted a header just wide from Trent’s cross; the Reds were certainly in the ascendancy.
Jota shot straight at Forster after a tasty backheel from Sadio and the visiting keeper then denied Salah, who had been played in by Trent. Just as it looked like it was going to be another of those days, Salah crossed from the right and Sadio outjumped Walker-Peters at the far post; 1-0 to the good guys.
To suggest it had all been one way traffic would be slightly disingenuous, however, as Alisson had to save from both Adams and Redmond before we took the lead; indeed, Southampton had the ball in the net in stoppage time but Adams’ scrappy effort was ruled out for a foul by Bednarek.
As the players trudged off for their halftime oranges, it was an all-too-familiar situation at Anfield: the home side were ahead but not yet out of sight.
The second stanza started with Walker-Peters appearing to clear the ball using his arm; nothing given, for a change. Salah tried to tee up Trent but over hit the pass; Walker-Peters brought a promising run from Sadio to an abrupt end with a blatant foul but wasn’t booked.
Redmond, however, did receive the first yellow card of the match just after the hour mark for flailing at Fabinho, just before Trent stuck to his task to deny Tella a shooting opportunity. Alisson reacted with alacrity to prevent the substitute, Obafemi, from scoring with his first touch, while Fabinho did well to block a long-range effort from Walker-Peters.
Another Southampton substitute, Diallo, tried his luck from distance but our no-longer-bearded Brazilian tipped over; the home goalie then inexplicably played the ball straight to Adams, who was so surprised that his attempted shot was laughably poor. He really should have equalised.
The disappointing Jota was replaced by Firmino for the last eleven minutes, just as we entered squeaky bum time. Trent lifted a corner to the far post, where Sadio volleyed home with aplomb. 2-0? Nope- offside against the Senegalese forward.
Salah was replaced by Ox with three minutes left to play; as we entered stoppage time, Thiago steered the ball into the bottom right corner and it was three points in the bag. It was the Spanish midfielder’s first goal since joining from Bayern and was welcome for more than one reason.
Curtis Jones then replaced Mané deep into the four additional minutes; job done and back in the hunt for fourth place and qualification for next season’s Champions League.
Next up is the rescheduled visit to Old Trafford on Thursday evening; given our opponents’ extensive recent experience of playing on that particular day, the odds have to favour them.
MOTM: those good people at Häagen-Dazs. Their new Dark Chocolate and Salted Caramel Crunch Duo is the best mass-market ice cream I have ever tasted and, even better, it’s currently only three quid if you have a Tesco club card. Diet? What diet?
79’ Bobby FIRMINO on, Diogo JOTA off.
Sadio MANE 31’ (Assist Mo SALAH)
