Liverpool moved up to sixth in the Premier League table after defeating Southampton 3-1 in Nathan Jones’ first game in charge of the Saints..
At Anfield, Roberto Firmino gave the hosts an early lead, but it lasted only three minutes before Che Adams equalized after getting on the end of a James Ward-Prowse free kick.
However, a brace from Darwin Nunez gave Liverpool control of the game before halftime, and they held on to win to go into the World Cup break with a positive result after an underwhelming start to the season..
Southampton had chances to get back into the game, with Adams forcing Alisson Becker into a particularly impressive save, and Jones will take positives from a difficult assignment in his first game as manager.
However, the Saints, who fired Ralph Hasenhuttl earlier this week, will now spend Christmas in the Premier League relegation zone for the first time since 2004-05, when they were relegated.
Firmino has traditionally done the majority of his damage to Southampton through assists, but his clever backward header broke the deadlock after only six minutes this afternoon..
Andrew Robertson’s free kick appeared to be falling just short of its intended target, only for Firmino to flick it into the far corner, capping off a disappointing week in which he was left out of Brazil’s World Cup squad..
Southampton quickly responded, with Adams heading home Ward-free Prowse’s kick from inside the area for the first goal of the Nathan Jones era.
Nunez, on the other hand, stole the show from then on, restoring Liverpool’s lead midway through the first half with a first-time left-footed volley on Harvey Elliott’s floated pass..
The Uruguayan, who, unlike his fellow Liverpool goalscorer, will be attending the World Cup in Qatar, then doubled his personal tally by turning home Robertson’s low cross at the near post – his 53rd Premier League assist, equaling the competition record for a defender.
That proved to be the game’s final goal, despite the fact that Alisson was called into action on a couple of occasions and Virgil van Dijk also squandered a couple of good chances in the second half..
Liverpool, whose manager Jurgen Klopp was in the stands serving a one-game touchline ban, also gave James Milner his 600th Premier League appearance, making him only the fourth player to do so.
Southampton drop to 19th in the table as a result of Nottingham Forest’s win over Crystal Palace, and they will end the day bottom if Wolverhampton Wanderers defeat Arsenal later on Saturday.
Jones will undoubtedly take positives from the performance, but his new team has now won just one of their last ten league games.
Liverpool also ends a run of three consecutive league defeats against teams starting the day in the relegation zone, bringing their total to five.
Leave a Reply