Mohamed Salah ended his goal drought in sensational style as Liverpool reclaimed top spot in the Premier League by coming from behind to beat relegation-threatened Southampton 3-1.
Egyptian forward Salah ran from inside his own half to find the net for the first time in nine games, 10 minutes from time, to help the title-chasing Reds move two points ahead of rivals Manchester City.
Substitute Jordan Henderson tapped home a late third to seal the success after Naby Keita’s first goal in English football cancelled out Shane Long’s early opener for the in-form hosts.
With Pep Guardiola’s City in FA Cup semi-final action this weekend, Jurgen Klopp’s men will remain at the summit until they play Chelsea on April 14 at the very least.
Saints, meanwhile, stay five points clear of the drop zone after their two-game winning run was ended.
Resurgent Southampton had failed to find the net in the previous five league meetings between the clubs, with their last top-flight goal against Liverpool coming in March 2016.
They quickly ended that three-year drought as the returning Long, back from a groin injury to replace on-loan striker Danny Ings, who was ineligible against his parent club, opened the scoring inside nine minutes.
Saints captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg arrived in the box in front of Virgil Van Dijk to flick on Ryan Bertrand’s left-wing delivery, leaving the unmarked Long to kill the ball with his first touch and smash into the bottom left corner with his second.
The opener had St Mary’s rocking but former Saints favourite Sadio Mane almost produced an immediate equaliser. His close-range header from Salah’s cross was superbly repelled by Southampton goalkeeper Angus Gunn, with Keita only able to turn the rebound into the side netting.
Stand-in Liverpool skipper Van Dijk, whose every touch was jeered by the home fans following his #75million switch to Anfield, then narrowly diverted another teasing Bertrand centre over his own crossbar as the best defence in the division continued to creak.
Reds boss Klopp opted to make two changes following last weekend’s last-gasp win over Tottenham, dropping midfielders James Milner and Henderson to the bench and bringing in summer signings Fabinho and Keita.
