Daniel Sturridge scored the third goal of the match. second for Liverpool to hand Brendon Rodgers' side a 2-1 victory over a relentless Southampton at Anfield on Sunday.
Raheem Sterling put the Reds ahead midway through the first half after a fine pass from England teammate Jordan Henderson, but a thunderous shot from Southampto's Nathaniel Clyne drew the visitors level shortly after the break, before Sturridge's flick with just 10 minutes of game time left to play gave Liverpool the victory.
Three players traded the south coast for Merseyside in the off-season but only Dejan Lovren started, with striker Rickie Lambert on the bench and midfielder Adam Lallana injured.
Southampton, themselves embarking on a new period under the guidance of Dutchman Ronald Koeman and after the departures of a number of key names, gave a decent account of themselves in what is expected to be a season of rebuilding.
Clear chances were in short supply for both sides until Henderson won the ball inside his own half on 23 minutes.
He split the Southampton defence with an incisive pass, allowing 19-year-old Sterling to calmly shoot past Southampton's new keeper, Fraser Forster into the bottom corner.
Liverpool earned plenty of plaudits for the way they tore teams apart last season, but after going a goal up they allowed Southampton to get a foothold in the match.
James Ward-Prowse sent in some dangerous balls from out wide, but shots on goal were at a premium until Morgan Schneiderlin, who had publicly expressed his desire to leave Southampton, forced a good save from Simon Mignolet shortly before the break.
With 10 minutes after restart, Clyne blast past Mignolet with the Belgian having to little do.
Nathaniel Clyne collected the ball just outside the Liverpool goal area and played a neat one-two with newcomer Dusan Tadic, the Serb playing a delightful backheel inside the box to set up the right back and Clyne made no mistake as he blasted the ball into the roof of the net leaving Mignolet astonished.
Southampton nearly took the lead shortly afterwards, Tadic and Ward-Prowse combining again to tee up Steven Davis in space, the Northern Irishman firing a weak side-foot shot low at Mignolet.
They were however made to pay for the wastefulness when Sturridge, who scored 21 league goals last term in partnership with Suarez, flicked the ball home after the impressive Sterling met Henderson's cross.
Schneiderlin nearly snatched a late point, Mignolet tipping his shot onto the underside of the crossbar, with Shane Long sending the follow-up just wide.
The victory means Liverpool joins Arsenal, and Swansea as joint table toppers
0 comments:
Post a Comment