Liverpool 3 [Núñez 51, Salah 54 pen, 88 pen] Southampton 1 [Smallbone 45+1]
Liverpool recovered from a Champions League hangover which threatened to produce the shock of the season to beat Southampton 3-1 and extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table to 16 points.
At this stage of the season, a week is a long time in football but in the space of a few days, goalkeeper Alisson Becker went from hero to zero.
After his self-proclaimed best performance of his career against Paris St Germain on Wednesday, the Brazil international’s first-half mistake allowed Ireland international Will Smallbone to put one of the worst teams in top-flight history ahead at Anfield.
It was no less than the hosts deserved after a lacklustre 45 minutes, which had the usually relaxed Virgil van Dijk berating his team-mates for their lack of energy.
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Head coach Arne Slot – who was serving the final game of his touchline suspension in the Main Stand – saw it and, uncharacteristically, responded with three interval substitutions.
Wednesday’s match-winner Harvey Elliott, Andy Robertson and Alexis Mac Allister made an immediate difference as the tempo increased with Luis Díaz, who was lucky to escape the half-time cull after a lethargic display, also positively impacted.
With one of his first touches, Elliott forced the first save out of Aaron Ramsdale, with Robertson flicking an effort wide from a half-cleared corner.
It was the spark Liverpool needed and they turned the game around in the space of five minutes against the bottom side.
Díaz, showing a drive previously lacking, muscled his way past Kyle Walker-Peters to the byline and cut the ball back for Darwin Núñez to divert in first time from five yards.
The Uruguay international, making his first league start since St Stephen’s Day, then won a 54th-minute penalty after he was brought down by Smallbone after Ramsdale parried Díaz’s shot.
Anfield fell silent but when Mohamed Salah stroked home the resulting spot-kick for his 31st goal of the season, it erupted again.
That equalled Ian Rush’s club record of 10 league goals against Saints and now only the Welshman and Roger Hunt have more Liverpool goals than the Egypt international’s 242.
It was the 19th-successive home game they had scored at least two, equalling Sunderland’s top-flight record from 1935.
Yukinari Sugawara’s handball in trying to fend off Díaz saw Salah dispatch his second penalty for his 184th Premier League goal, drawing level with Manchester City’s Sergio Agüero in joint-fifth on the all-time list.
Nottingham Forest 1 [Hudson-Odoi 83] Manchester City 0
Callum Hudson-Odoi’s late goal saw Nottingham Forest take a huge step towards Champions League qualification with a 1-0 win over Manchester City, who are now looking over their shoulder.
Hudson-Odoi caught Ederson out at the near post in the 82nd minute at the City Ground to provide a new highlight in a memorable campaign for Nuno Espirito Santo’s men.
They consolidated their position in third with 10 games to go, four points ahead of City in fourth and five ahead of Chelsea in fifth.
And the manner of their victory will surely give Forest huge belief they can finish the job and qualify for the Champions League in just their third season back in the top flight.
City’s own European qualification hopes are very much up in the air as they fell to a ninth league defeat, the most since 2019/20, and they could be out of the top four after the weekend’s action.
Brentford 0 Aston Villa 1 [Watkins 49]
Ollie Watkins returned to haunt former club Brentford with the decisive strike as Aston Villa recorded a 1-0 win at the Gtech Community Stadium.
The England striker, who left west London in 2020, was subjected to jeers by the home fans as his clinical finish saw Villa continue their hunt for European qualification.
Villa, in seventh, now sit two points off fourth-place Manchester City.
Brighton 2 [Van Hecke 41, João Pedro 90+8 pen] Fulham 1 [Jimenez 35]
João Pedro scored a stoppage-time penalty as Brighton finally beat Fulham in the Premier League at the 10th attempt, securing a 2-1 win.
Albion looked set to be frustrated by the Cottagers once again, having never beaten them in nine previous attempts.
But Pedro’s spot-kick at the death settled the battle of the European hopefuls in Brighton’s favour and moved them up to sixth, just a point behind Manchester City in fourth.
Raúl Jiménez’s opener for Fulham had earlier been cancelled out by Jan Paul van Hecke’s towering header in the first half.
Crystal Palace 1 [Sarr 82] Ipswich Town 0
Ismaila Sarr scored a late winner in Crystal Palace’s 1-0 victory at Selhurst Park to deny relegation-battling Ipswich a much-needed point.
England boss Thomas Tuchel paid another visit to the Eagles’ south London home, but it was a far less entertaining encounter than their 4-1 victory over Aston Villa on his last trip.
The contest picked up in the second half, though neither side was able to make the most of their chances.
Just as it looked like the visitors might be able to cling on and share the spoils, Sarr secured all three points for Palace eight minutes from time.
