Paul Onuachu and Joe Aribo featured for Southampton as they fell 3-2 to Premier League leaders Liverpool at St. Mary’s Stadium on Sunday, November 24.
Onuachu, making his first Premier League start this season, led the attack and impressed in the first half, completing more dribbles (3) than the entire Liverpool team. However, his outing was cut short in the 52nd minute due to a knock sustained after a collision with Cody Gakpo. Joe Aribo replaced the injured Adam Lallana in the 37th minute.
Liverpool took an early lead through Dominik Szoboszlai, who capitalized on a defensive error to curl one into the far post. Controversy struck when Liverpool were awarded a penalty after Andrew Robertson’s foul on Tyler Dibling, seemingly outside the box. Despite missing the initial penalty, Adam Armstrong slotted in the rebound to level the score.
Southampton shocked the visitors in the 56th minute when Mateus Fernandes finished off a counterattack, making it 2-1. However, Mohamed Salah quickly responded, capitalising on a mistake by goalkeeper Alex McCarthy to equalize.
The match seemed destined for a draw until substitute Yukinari Sugawara’s handball gifted Liverpool a penalty. Salah converted from the spot to seal a dramatic 3-2 win for the Reds.
With the victory, Liverpool extended their lead at the top to 8 points, setting up a thrilling clash against Manchester City next week. Southampton remains bottom of the table, 5 points from safety.
