Mohamed Salah sent Liverpool eight points clear at the top of the Premier League by scoring twice to help his team rally to a 3-2 win over last-place Southampton on Sunday.
It was a 10th victory in 12 league games for Liverpool, which took advantage of defending champion Manchester City's stunning third straight league loss — 4-0 at home to Tottenham on Saturday — and fifth in a row in all competitions.
Liverpool was trailing 2-1 when Salah equalized in the 65th after running onto a long pass forward from Ryan Gravenberch. The Egypt forward then converted a penalty in the 83rd after a handball by Yukinari Sugawara.
Ruben Amorim takes charge of his first game as Manchester United manager later, away to Ipswich.
Salah moved onto 10 goals for the league campaign, second behind Man City's Erling Haaland (12), and nearly had a hat trick at St, Mary's stadium — only to hit the post in the final minutes.
Liverpool's win owed as much to the defensive inadequacies of Southampton, which has only one win in 12 games, as any excellence from Arne Slot's visitors.
The Reds were gifted the opening goal, though Dominik Szoboszlai's finish was excellent after he collected a weak clearance from Flynn Downes and curled a shot in off the post. It started after Southampton goalkeeper Alex McCarthy rolled the ball out to a player who was swarmed by Liverpool's Curtis Jones and Darwin Nunez at the edge of the area.
Southampton fought back, with Adam Armstrong converting a penalty in the 42nd minute after Andy Robertson tripped Tyler Dibling just inside the area and then setting up Mateus Fernandes to stroke home in the 56th.
Salah came to Liverpool's rescue, though, and again there will be question marks about McCarthy, who raced out of his goal to take Gravenberch's pass only to be beaten to the ball by Salah.
Salah was able to run with the ball into an empty net and was celebrating again after converting the match-clinching penalty past McCarthy.
“It is a great feeling but it is the beginning of the season," Szoboszlai said of Liverpool's big lead. "We just need to continue and not think where the other teams are.”
___
Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Steve Douglas, The Associated Press
