Liverpool 4-0 Southampton: Diogo Jota scores twice as the Reds finish second with a big win

Diogo Jota scored twice to help Liverpool beat Southampton to rise to second in the Premier League, one point behind leaders Chelsea.

Seizing the opportunity to secure the victory against an open opponent, Liverpool continued to attack, Sadio Mane headed dangerously before the goal was offside.

But the second goal came after just half an hour when Jota was not marked to touch from Mohamed Salah’s square ball after a good combination between the Egypt international and Jordan Henderson.

Those two goals have helped Liverpool score 700 goals since Jurgen Klopp arrived at Anfield – they also became the first top English team to score at least twice in 17 consecutive games in all competitions since from Sunderland in 1927.

However, the Reds failed to make it there, and the third goal came just minutes later when the visitors failed to block a reasonable pass and Thiago Alcantara punished them with a deflected shot to score the winning goal. second in many matches.

The half-time interval provided only a brief respite and Liverpool took a 4-0 lead shortly after restarting when Virgil van Dijk finished from a corner.

Jota almost completed his hat-trick midway through the second half but was only rammed off the post as Southampton left a four-goal loss when the truth could have been much worse.

A perfect result when entering the busy festive period

With matches every three or four days, December looks like it could be an important month in the title race but Liverpool enter the festive period in extremely serious form.

Within seven days, they saw off Arsenal, Porto and now Southampton empty-handed – scoring 10 goals and conceding none.

That’s the mark they need to leave behind after a few disappointing results earlier this month – drawing at home to Brighton and losing to West Ham – but Liverpool have shown their best attack in recent days.

They were aided in this game by a Saints side that seemed disjointed and obvious from the start, but the hosts’ attacking play is sure to find a way to defend tighter than this.

The pace of Liverpool’s advance was unrelenting, with Jota, Mane and Salah over the shoulders of the Southampton defenders, ready to seize any opportunity.

It was a rare game where Salah wasn’t on the scoresheet but he still outplayed his role and the second assist meant he was directly involved in 150 Premier League goals. in 171 league matches for the Reds.

The pace has certainly dropped after Van Dijk scored Liverpool’s fourth but with nine games coming up in December, Liverpool have probably saved their energy wisely.

Player of the match

Diogo JotaDiogo Jota

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