The expectation has had a habit of suffocating the life out of Liverpool on occasions like this. The absence of a league trophy these past 28 years has created what Jamie Carragher once described as a 'gaping, lingering void' and just a few wins – never mind seven in succession – does something to the dreamers in this profoundly optimistic place.
Jurgen Klopp's appreciation of that fact was as significant as the way Liverpool breezed to victory.
To read his programme notes was almost to hear him delivering a pre-match parable on the dangers of complacency. 'I could not care for one moment how many we have won in a row. To coin an English phrase I have learned: today is our be-all and end-all.'
Mohamed Salah got back to goalscoring ways in added time at the end of the first half by tapping home from close range
The Egyptian lapped up the adoration of Anfield after making it 3-0 to Liverpool and sending the Reds enroute to victory
Salah got down to the turf and celebrated in his traditional manner after adding another Liverpool goal to his collection
On the 20-minute mark Liverpool went 2-0 ahead after Joel Matip rose high to head home Trent Alexander-Arnold's corner
The German centre back out-jumped Southampton's Jannik Vestergaard to plant a powerful header on the ball
Matip roared in celebration after scoring for Liverpool on his first return to the starting line up for some time
If you were looking very hard for the negatives you could point to moments of fractional defensive vulnerability. Virgil van Dijk also departed ten minutes into the second half, clutching his midriff. If you were looking for some perspective you would also say that this was a pitiful Southampton defence.
But make no mistake that it was another statement from the side who have not started a season like this since Bill Shankly was driving the club into life, in the autumn of 1961.
Mohamed Salah contributed significantly, shaking away the weight of expectation and rediscovering that smile, wide as the Mersey, having accelerated ahead of Cedric Soares to met a ball which had deflected down from the cross bar and score. The goal sent his side in 3-0 ahead at half-time.
PLAYER RATINGS, LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE
LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Alisson 6; Alexander-Arnold 6.5, Matip 6, Van Dijk 8 (Gomez 55 6), Robertson 6.5; Shaqiri 7.5 (Milner 46), Henderson 6.5, Wijnaldum 6 (Keita 70 5.5); Mane 6.5, Salah 6, Firmino 6.5
SUBS NOT USED: Mignolet, Fabinho, Sturridge, Moreno
GOALS: Hoedt 10 (OG), Matip 21, Salah 45+3
MANAGER: Jurgen Klopp
SOUTHAMPTON (4-4-1-1): McCarthy 6.5; Cedric 6, Vestergaard 5, Hoedt 5.5, Bertrand 5; Redmond 6.5 (Bednarek 55), Romeu 5, Hojbjerg 5.5, Targett 5 (Armstrong 55); Lemina 6; Long 6 (Austin 79 5)
SUBS NOT USED: Gunn, Yoshida, Davis, Ward-Prowse
BOOKINGS: Romeu, Lemina
MANAGER: Mark Hughes
REFEREE: Paul Tierney
MAN OF THE MATCH:
ATTENDANCE:
An impressive header from the returning Joel Matip put Liverpool 2-0 ahead after 20 minutes. CLICK HERE for more from Sportsmail's Match Zone.
Season at a glance
- Premier League
- Premier League
- Championship
- League One
- League Two
- Scottish Premiership
- Scottish Div 1
- Scottish Div 2
- Scottish Div 3
- Ligue 1
- Serie A
- La Liga
- Bundesliga
A subsidiary narrative belonged to Virgil van Dijk, who reminded Southampton how monumentally much they miss him. A 40-yard diagonal pass for Sadio Mane to take down from the sky.
A calmly placed challenge to take the ball from Shane Long's toe on a brief early incursion. A sharp word for Alisson Becker after what he seemed to consider a lack of command in the Liverpool box.
But this was also the win which revealed the depth of Liverpool's strength. Klopp gave Xherdan Shaqiri his first start after admitting on Friday that his failure to play him more had been a mistake and watched him contribute substantially to the dismantling of Southampton.
Liverpool grabbed the opening goal of the game after a cross deflected through Southampton bodies and hit Wesley Hoedt
The Dutchman could not react quickly enough and flicked the ball over the line past his goalkeeper
Alex McCarthy tried in vain to claw the ball back from behind the line but the referee had signalled for 1-0 to the Reds
The ball had already beaten McCarthy by the time the England goalkeeper had chance to hook his arm back across
Xherdan Shaqiri was responsible for putting in the cross which bounced through the defence and hit the unsuspecting Hoedt
The winger peeled away in celebration and looked ecstatic with his role in the opening goal for the Reds
Switzerland international Shaqiri was given his first start for his new club, coming in to the line up to replace James Milner
The visiting manager Mark Hughes could have been forgiven for wondering where the Swiss player had located his, given how little of the commodity he seemed to find during their mutual struggles at Stoke last year.
The player was rewarded inside ten minutes when his shot from the left side of the area pin-balled in off Shane Long and, ultimately, the knee of Wesley Hoedt. Sadio Mane's contribution to the goal was the most significant of all.
Meandering away from goal with the ball at his feet, he turned, shaped back the way he had come, and slid the pass inside Cedric which Shaqiri could pick up.
The lead was doubled by another of the players newly introduced – Joel Matip, who sent Trent Alexander-Arnold's 21st minute corner high beyond Alex McCarthy with find a header of first class accuracy.
Salah's goal – his third of the season – came as day follows night. His touch is not yet what it was last season. The way Cedric took a ball from him, in the area, just before the second goal, revealed that much.
The Kop's Salah anthem was being sung with more empathy and euphoria for a time. But an audacious effort with the back of his left heel after he'd rounded Jannik Vestergaard trickled an inch wide. Then came his own breakthrough.
Salah allowed himself a smile after very nearly beating McCarthy one-on-one with an audacious back-heeled attempt
Andy Robertson battled for the ball under pressure from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Cedric Soares
Klopp kept a fixed watch over the opposition as Southampton went about their warm-up inside Anfield
Salah looked calm and relaxed during the pre-match warm up as questions still remained regarding his current form
Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn was in attendance at Anfield and paid tribute at the Hillsborough memorial
Corbyn was seen mingling with supporters outside the stadium before making his way inside to watch the match
There was defensive fragility everywhere you looked in Hughes' ranks. Vestergaard was comfortably beaten to that header by Matip and the speed of reaction to the free-kick which Salah seized upon was poor.
Not for the first time, a Hughes team parades attacking intent – Nathan Redmond delivering consistently well from the right and Long an intermittent threat – but looks terribly weak at the back.
Shaqiri did not re-emerge for the second half and van Dijk was missed. Salah was correctly adjudged offside after firing in rebound when substitute James Milner's shot was cleared off the line. But the occasion was over long before the floodlights illuminated it.
'I have spoken many times about staying 'angry' in the competitive sense,' Klopp said in those programme notes. His team seem to hear him.
Linkhienalouca.comhttps://hienalouca.com/2018/09/22/liverpool-3-0-southampton-mo-salah-back-on-the-goals-as-reds-go-top/
Main photo article The expectation has had a habit of suffocating the life out of Liverpool on occasions like this. The absence of a league trophy these past 28 years has created what Jamie Carragher once described as a ‘gaping, lingering void’ and just a few wins – never mind seven in succession – doe...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1/2018/09/22/16/4474574-6196425-image-a-73_1537629369313.jpg
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