'Biggest goal he's scored': Salah magic saves Liverpool

A late moment of magic from Mohamed Salah has rescued Liverpool from a result that would have potentially ended their title hopes.

Late goals by Salah and Jordan Henderson earned Liverpool a crucial 3-1 victory at Southampton to move them back to the top of the Premier League.

For the second week running, Liverpool looked like losing ground on Manchester City in a titanic title race, but once again Jurgen Klopp’s side would not be denied as they edged a step closer to a first league title since 1990.

Salah ended an eight-game scoring drought with a wonderful solo goal in the 80th minute and substitute Henderson tapped in to seal the three points to the delight of the visiting fans who had spent all night biting their nails.

The Egyptian also set a remarkable record after becoming the fastest to 50 league goals in Liverpool’s history.

Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler claimed on Optus Sports’ coverage after the game that Salah’s strike was “the biggest goal he’s scored” in his career.

Shane Long gave relegation-threatened Southampton the lead in the ninth minute as Liverpool began sluggishly but Naby Keita’s header levelled the scores before halftime.

Victory lifted Liverpool to 82 points from 33 games, with City on 80 from 32.

Southampton remained five points above the relegation zone.

Reds do it the hard way

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admitted his side cannot meet the heights of Manchester City’s football, but they may still deny Pep Guardiola’s men the title after reclaiming top spot.

“The performance was not top level but it is about fighting. People want us to play like Manchester City, we are unable to do that, we play our own football,” said Klopp.

The Reds might consider themselves a little lucky after replays showed Salah was arguably a fraction offside in the build-up to Keita’s equaliser.

Nevertheless, Klopp was over the moon that his men were able to snatch a hard-fought victory.

“We have 82 points now, that is massive in this crazy league and everyone is waiting for us. I am really proud. It is incredible.”

Liverpool had to come from behind at St. Mary’s after Long’s ninth-minute opener.

Despite dominating the second half, Liverpool had to wait until 10 minutes from time to go in front when Salah ran from inside his own half on the counter-attack from a Southampton corner to score his first goal for nine games.

Henderson started on the bench, but the Liverpool captain made a big impact with his first goal of the season to seal a vital three points.

“It is nice for Naby Keita to score the first to show Southampton it will not be easy for them. After that we controlled it more. It was good, I liked it,” added Klopp.

“It is a difficult year for everybody. You need to have 70-75 points for the Champions League and 90-something for the the title. We are in the race and that is nice.”

Liverpool appear to have the easier run-in from their five remaining fixtures compared to City’s six, that includes a visit of Tottenham and trip to Manchester United.

But Henderson believes his side will need to win every game to end a 29-year wait to win the title.

“It was very big. Every game is massive. We?ve got to win every game,” said the England midfielder.

“It was a big performance in the second-half and a big result.”

With agencies