Highlights: Southampton 0-2 Liverpool; Clinical Reds close in on top 4

Philippe Coutinho celebrates with teammates after opening the scoring

Liverpool travelled to Southampton after Tottenham and Manchester United had dropped points and a win for either side would have helped them greatly in their quest of top 4. However, it was Liverpool who seized the initiative and continued their brilliant run with a 2-0 win at the St. Mary’s Stadium.

Southampton benched Morgan Schneiderlin and Dusan Tadic, while Liverpool had Daniel Sturridge and Mario Balotelli on the bench. The Saints hadn’t played a game in nearly 2 weeks, while the Reds were playing their 4th in the same time.

The match started with Southampton claiming a penalty in the first minute, but the referee, rightly so, waived away their claims. A couple of minutes later, Philippe Coutinho gave Liverpool the lead with a goal-of-the-season contender. He took the ball in midfield and as he wasn’t closed down, hit a brilliant shot, which went in off the crossbar, past the helpless Fraser Forster.

The goal, however, didn’t deter the home side as they tried to get back level soon after and could have been awarded a penalty when Joe Allen’s challenge on Filip Djuricic inside the box was not deemed as a foul by the referee Kevin Friend.

It was Liverpool’s turn to be denied a penalty when a coming together between Raheem Sterling and Jose Fonte resulted in the away side frustrated that the referee hadn’t pointed to the spot. The referee was again in the spotlight when Eljero Elia was played through and his lob struck Simon Mignolet’s chest and then his hand, possibly outside the penalty area.

The referee, however, didn’t make a mistake in blowing the whistle at half-time and Liverpool must have been counting themselves lucky to go into the break leading by a goal. Coutinho’s attempt was the away side’s only shot on target in the entire half.

The start of the second half brought a change each by Brendan Rodgers and Ronald Koeman, with Alberto Moreno coming on for Lazar Markovic, while Steven Davis made way for Morgan Schneiderlin. Liverpool were happy to sit back and repel any Southampton attack, while trying to pounce on a counter attack.

Daniel Sturridge made his way onto the pitch to replace former Saints player Adam Lallana and in doing so made his 50th Premier League appearance for the Reds. He has scored 33 goals for Liverpool in those appearances, level with Fernando Torres.

A swift counter-attack for Liverpool brought their second goal, when Moreno’s cross, looking for Sturridge, was blocked by the Southampton defence, but fell kindly for Raheem Sterling. The young Englishman made no mistake in smashing the ball in to give the Reds an unassailable lead.

The referee soon signalled the end of the match which meant that Liverpool got their 5th consecutive Premier League away clean sheet, a record matching Joe Fagan’s all-conquering Liverpool team of the mid-80s. It has also been nearly 8 hours since they conceded an away goal. The Reds got their 6th win in 7 matches to move to 2 points within fourth-placed Manchester United.

Southampton 0-1 Liverpool: Philippe Coutinho (3’)

Liverpool took the lead as early as the 3^rd minute when Philippe Coutinho got the ball. He pushed it to one side to make way for a shot and let fly a piledriver that went in off the crossbar to stun the home crowd.

Southampton 0-2 Liverpool: Raheem Sterling (73’)

Just when it looked like Southampton have a chance to nick a draw, Sterling pounced on a loose ball inside the box to double Liverpool’s advantage to the delight of the travelling Kop!