Key events
73 min Armstrong is booked for a foul on Van Dijk.
71 min Harwood-Bellis makes a terrific sliding block from Diaz’s shot, then Stephens charges out to smother Bradley’s follow-up. Liverpool have finally woken up.
69 min That goal has changed the mood completely. It’s all Liverpool now, and Mac Allister has just whistled a drive over the bar from 25 yards.
68 min McCarthy comes for the next corner, misses it completely and is extremely relieved to see Gravenberch lob the ball over the bar from eight yards. That was a great chance.
67 min: Good save by McCarthy! Robertson’s corner is met at the near post by Diaz, whose header is tipped over acrobatically by McCarthy. Good stop.
Gravenberch, on the halfway line, clipped a straight pass over the Southampton defence towards Salah. McCarthy thought Salah, wasn’t going to reach the ball and ran diagonally to his left, leaving the goal wide open. Salah did get to the ball, stretching to cushion a volley into the net from about 18 yards. It’s a fine, improvised finish, but a horrible moment from McCarthy.
GOAL! Southampton 2-2 Liverpool (Salah 65)
Mo Salah equalises after another defensive calamity!
62 min: Chance for Liverpool! Diaz almost scores with his first touch. Salah played a ball over the top for Nunez, who scorched away from the defence in the inside-right channel. He could have had a shot but instead tried to slide the ball across to give Diaz an open goal. The pass was slightly behind Diaz, who couldn’t slow down quickly enough to screw the ball into the net.
62 min: Double substitution for Liverpool Luis Diaz and Alexis Mac Allister replace Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo.
61 min Fernandes scoops a clever little through pass to Armstrong, who is penalised for a challenge on Kelleher. Kelleher actually slid past the ball, at which point he and Armstrong collided. I’d like to see that again.
60 min Liverpool have been unusually sloppy today. You’d still fancy them to get at least a draw but they’ll need to up their game quicksmart.
It was a terrific counter-attacking goal. Tyler Dibling – what a player he looks – turned Szoboszlai neatly and pinged a brilliant crossfield pass to release Adam Armstrong in the inside-left channel. Armstrong left the ball behind on the edge of the area but then composed himself to pick out Mateus Fernandes near the penalty spot. The weight on the pass was perfect, allowing Fernandes to open his body and slide a precise left-foot shot back across Kelleher. Lovely goal.
GOAL! Southampton 2-1 Liverpool (Fernandes 56)
Southampton take the lead against the leaders!
55 min Gravenberch steals possession high up the field, keeps going and tees up Nunez, whose snapshot is deflected behind for a corner.
53 min The Southampton keeper Alex McCarthy gets a big cheer when he kicks the ball long for possibly the first time today.
53 min Lovely play from the teenager Tyler Dibling. He scurries past three Liverpool players, using little Sensible Soccer touches the whole way, then swerves to the left and shoots not far over from 25 yards.
52 min: Southampton substitution Lesley Ugochukwu replaces the limping Paul Onuachu, who gets a fine hand from the home supporters.
51 min Another injury for Southampton. Onuachu must have fallen awkwardly after that challenge from Gakpo because he needs to go off.
49 min Gakpo is booked for tripping Onuachu, who has held the ball up really well for Southampton.
49 min A corner is headed as far away from Jones, whose shot from 25 yards is blocked by the outrushing Fraser.
48 min Salah’s outside-of-the-boot cross is volleyed back across goal by Robertson and cleared crucially by Stephens. Lots of early pressure from Liverpool.
46 min Peep peep! Southampton begin the second half.
The consensus of the Sky Sports panel is that Lallana was lucky not to be sent off for that tackle on Gravenberch. “I’d have been sent off for that,” says Roy Keane. “I would! The more I look at it, the worse it is.”
Half-time reading
Yes, it really, really, really did happen.
Half time: Southampton 1-1 Liverpool
A lively, error-strewn half ends with the scores level. Southampton gave a goal to Dominik Szoboszlai with a clumsy attempt to play out from the back; Virgil van Dijk’s indulgent backheel led to a borderline penalty when Andy Robertson fouled Tyler Dibling. Adam Armstrong scored at the second attempt after Caoimhin Kelleher saved his penalty.
45+3 min Onuachu almost brings the house down with a winding run past three or four players. That was a bit like Clodoaldo in the 1970 World Cup final, albeit not quite as elegant and without the same end result.
45+2 min Stephens mocks Nunez by putting his hands over his face as if he’s been it. Nunez was suckered into a red card on his home debut so he could probably do with the half-time break to cool off.
45+1 min Nunez goes down in the area after being pushed just below the neck by Stephens. The referee has a word with both players, who were pushing each other repeatedly off the ball as they jockeyed for position.
45 min Six minutes of added time.
44 min Southampton almost give the lead straight back to Liverpool. McCarthy’s jittery pass goes straight to Gakpo on the left side of the area; thankfully for Southampton, there are enough defenders around to block Gakpo’s shot.
GOAL! Southampton 1-1 Liverpool (Armstrong 42)
Armstrong’s penalty is saved by Kelleher, diving to his right, but the ball rebounds perfectly for him to score at the second attempt.
41 min This is a nightmare for Michael Oliver in the VAR bunker. But the penalty stands! There was no clear evidence to overturn it.
PENALTY TO SOUTHAMPTON! Dibling is tripped right on the edge of the area by Robertson. Was he inside? The referee thought so. It’s really tight and because the penalty was given on the field I think the decision will stand.
It stemmed from an absurd, indulgent backheel by Van Dijk that went astray. Dibling ran straight at the heart of the defence, poked the ball past Robertson and was tripped.
39 min Walker-Peters finds Aribo, who slips Gravenberch in the area and fires a low cross that is cleared by the well-positioned Van Dijk.
Walker-Peters switched to left wing-back about five minutes ago and has had a bit of joy going forward.