Defeats Southampton, Liverpool Starts The Hope Of Big Four

Liverpool midfielder Thiago Alcantara (second right) celebrates with his team-mates after a goal/Antara

JAKARTA - Liverpool revived their hopes of breaking into the top four of the Premier League standings after beating Southampton 2-0 in Week 35 at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, Saturday local time (Sunday, May 9).

Sadio Mane and Thiago Alcantara's goals in this match made Liverpool move up to sixth in the standings with 57 points.

The team made by Juergen Klopp is only six points adrift of the top four-zone and still has one game in hand.

Meanwhile, Southampton (37), who haven't tasted victory in the last four games, were stuck in 16th place after being overtaken by Newcastle United (39) yesterday.

Ralph Hasenhuettl's men are also not completely safe from the threat of relegation because they only have a safe distance of 10 points from the red zone, according to the official Premier League website.

Both teams played openly from the start but a good chance was born in the 18th minute when Mohamed Salah was selfish when he fired a shot that was easily secured by goalkeeper Fraser Forster despite Mane standing quite freely in front of goal.

Six minutes later, Mane sends a low-heel ball which Diogo Jota can control past three Southampton players but his shot is too close to Forster.

A minute later, from the situation Georginio Wijnaldum's corner was able to greet him with a hard header, unfortunately, the ball still hit the crossbar making another Liverpool opportunity pass by.

In the 29th minute, Liverpool's backline loosened and Nathan Tella was able to squeeze in from the right, sending in a lure that Che Adams was ready to finish, but goalkeeper Alisson Becker made a brilliant save.

After the attack was muted, Liverpool built a counter-threat to the visitors' defense and finally opened the scoring in the 31st minute when Salah's neat cross was completed to perfection by Mane who scored his first goal at Anfield this season.

Six minutes later, Salah came close to finding a one-on-one situation with Forster but Southampton's players scrambled to fill the box to keep out the wrong shot, and a throwing ball that Thiago tried to grab was also unable to reach the net.

A minute before halftime Southampton almost scored a reply, unfortunately, Tella's header was still heading right into Alisson's embrace.

Entering the second half Southampton appeared more aggressive and Liverpool chose to be relatively passive while waiting for gaps in their opponent's defense.

Liverpool's advantage lasted but was repeatedly saved by Alisson's action, who cut the bait and stopped the shots of Southampton's players.

Alisson blundered when his pass headed straight at Adams, but luckily he soon paid for his mistake by stopping the Southampton forward's shot.

Right at the end of normal time, Roberto Firmino who came on from the 79th minute to replace Jota managed to force Kyle Walker-Peters to lose the ball on the right side of the Southampton defense.

Firmino sent the ball to Thiago, who fired a shot from outside the penalty box to drive it into the lower right corner of the goal, in order to score his first goal in a Liverpool shirt while locking the Reds' 2-0 victory.

The next two teams will both have their respective postponed matches, when Liverpool travels to Old Trafford to face Manchester United on Thursday (13/5) next week, two days after Southampton host Crystal Palace at St. Mary's stadium.