PL Title Race Heading To Final Day After Liverpool Comeback Win
18 May, 2022
The Premier League title race will be decided on the final day of the season after Liverpool rallied from behind to secure a 2-1 win over Southampton.
Premier League
Report: Southampton 1-2 Liverpool
Date: 17 May 2022
Venue: St James' Park
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp made a number of changes after the FA Cp win, as Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk missed out through injury while Trent Alexander-Arnold and Sadio Mane were left out of the squad completely.
The home side went close to bagging the opening goal inside 10 minutes when Armando Broja skipped past Joel Matip in the box before he was denied by Alisson Becker. Southampton got the opening goal two minutes later when a swift counter-attack ended with Nathan Redmond cutting in from the left to unleash a strike that deflected past Becker.
After Roberto Firmino had a goal disallowed, the Reds got back on level terms in the 26th minute as Diogo Jota played in Takumi Minamino who rifled the ball into the back of the net for the equaliser.
Klopp's charges pushed for more goals in the latter stages of the first half, but they were only restricted to efforts from distance from James Milner and Roberto Firmino.
Liverpool should have been ahead shortly after the break when Konstantinos Tsimikas got down the left flank before picking out Jota, who took one touch before firing inches wide from close range.
After bringing on Jordan Henderson at the start of the second half, Klopp opted for a second change just after the hour mark when Divock Origi replaced Harvey Elliot.
The Reds took the lead on 67 minutes as Joel Matip rose above his marker to head home a cross from Tsimikas with the help of a deflection from Mohamed Elyounoussi.
Southampton went in search of an equaliser thereafter, which also Ralph Hasenhüttl introduce Che Adams for Borja in the final 10 minutes of the second half.
However, Klopp's charges remained resolute in the closing stages and saw out the rest of the clash to move within a point of Manchester City heading into the final day of the season on Sunday.
Source: www.soccerladuma.co.za