Irish Examiner
Two goals from Diogo Jota were the highlight of a routine Liverpool victory that keeps Jurgen Klopp’s in-form team in the thick of the title race.
Virgil van Dijk and Thiago Alcantara were also on the mark and Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane will be wondering how they did not get in on the fun as their team dominated from start to finish.
In the end, Jota’s mini-explosion underlined just how much of a dominant force Jurgen Klopp’s attacking line is once more, with Salah, Mane and Jota leading the way in the Premier League goalscoring charts.
Jota had the three points as good as secured by just after the half hour mark, by which time his two goals had fired Liverpool into a commanding lead.
The first after 111 seconds, was started by Salah and Mane linking well down the left, setting up Andy Robertson for a drag back which Jota powered in from point-blank range, arriving just ahead of Salah.
Mane’s header 10 minutes later was ruled out for offside but Jota’s second goal of the day, from a similarly well-worked team goal, looked to have killed the Saints off.
Jordan Henderson orchestrated a patient build-up before sending Salah to the by-line from where the Egyptian set up a simple finish for his team mate.
After 37 minutes, Thiago piled on the misery with another of his patent long-range strikes, although one which took a wicked deflection off defender Lyanco.
And any hopes of an implausible comeback from the visitors was removed late in the half when Alisson dived smartly to keep out an Adam Armstrong shot..
