Onuachu impresses on full season debut, but Salah-inspired Liverpool down Southampton

Super Eagles striker Paul Onuachu started his first game of the season for Southampton, but his efforts were not enough, as they fell to a painful 3-2 defeat against Liverpool, Soccernet.ng reports.

After failing to start in Southampton’s first eleven games of the season, Onuachu got on the starting eleven when they welcomed Liverpool to the St. Mary’s. The Nigerian striker started upfront alongside Adam Armstrong.

Liverpool were the favourites to claim the win, and they dominated the fixture from the start. The Reds piled a lot of pressure in the final third, and they eventually got the opener in the 30th minute, courtesy of Dominik Szoboszlai.

Onuachu was very lively from the start, and he often joined up with the defence line due to Liverpool’s constant attacks.

His hold-up and link-up play was also impressive. The former Genk man registered 20 touches, three dribbles, and seven accurate passes.

Southampton eventually got their equalizer in the 42nd minute, after a rebound from a missed penalty. They took the draw into the break, but the second half was sure to be a long one for them.

The Reds started the second half well and looked more dangerous, but they failed to get an early goal. Onuachu continued with his defensive work, and it was on one of those occasions that he suffered an injury after a tackle from Darwin Nunez. Immediately after he got tackled by the Uruguayan, he signaled to the bench that he wanted to be taken off.

Shortly after Onuachu exited the game, Mateus scored Southampton’s second, and it looked like they were set for a famous win.

Unfortunately, for the Saints, Mohamed Salah scored twice in the 65th and 83rd minute to ensure the game ended 3-2.