Southampton and Liverpool both came from two goals down as they brought disappointing seasons to a close with a madcap 4-4 draw at St Mary’s this afternoon.
There was only pride to fight for on both fronts heading into the final day, with Southampton already resigned to finishing bottom of the table, and Liverpool forced to settle for a fifth-placed finish.
The two sides duly played out a classic end-of-season contest which saw goals galore and sloppy defending at both ends, eventually ending all square at 4-4.
Liverpool had taken an early two-goal lead courtesy of strikes from Diogo Jota and the departing Roberto Firmino, who marked his 362nd and final appearance for the club in goalscoring fashion.
Any hopes that it would be a sunny walk in the park on the final day were quickly extinguished, though, and goals from James Ward-Prowse and Kamaldeen Sulemana saw them level things back up before the half-hour mark.
Sulemana then scored a stunning solo effort early in the second half to complete the turnaround, before Adam Armstrong made things even better for the hosts with a fourth.
However, the rollercoaster was not yet over and Liverpool scored twice in as many minutes to drag themselves back level again, with Cody Gakpo and Jota ultimately earning a point for Jurgen Klopp’s men.
The tone was set early on for the topsy-turvy spectacular which followed, with Liverpool being gifted the lead after only 10 minutes.
A scuffed pass from Romeo Lavia inside his own penalty area laid the ball on a plate for Jota, who was in no mood to turn down such a present and duly converted the opening goal of the game.
Four minutes later, it looked as though Southampton were going to bid farewell to the Premier League with a whimper as Firmino marked the final game of his legendary Liverpool career by getting on the scoresheet in trademark fashion.
The departing Brazilian collected the ball in the area and left three defenders on the floor with his dancing feet before drilling his finish between the keeper’s legs.
In a season that has seen Liverpool hit Bournemouth for nine and Manchester United for seven in the league despite an overall disappointing campaign, Southampton may have been fearing the worst.
However, they quickly began to show signs of being up for one final fight in the top flight, and it was fitting that Ward-Prowse – whose 20-year association with the club could come to an end this summer – began their fightback.
The captain fired an effort into the bottom far corner after receiving the ball on the left side of the area, dragging his side back into it in the 19th minute.
Parity was then restored before the half-hour mark as Southampton completed what had looked like an unlikely comeback, with Sulemana grabbing his first of the game when he slotted his finish past Caoimhin Kelleher in the Liverpool goal.
The pick of the bunch arrived just two minutes into the second half when Sulemana collected the ball deep inside his own half and carried it all the way to the edge of the Liverpool box before curling it into the corner for his second of the game, giving Southampton the lead in the process.
Departing Saints boss Ruben Selles then saw his side net a fourth, once again via a helping hand from Liverpool as Jordan Henderson gifted the ball to Armstrong, who raced through and rolled his finish into the bottom corner.
Liverpool’s comeback was even swifter than Southampton’s though, with Gakpo reducing the deficit back to one by applying the finishing touch to a flowing one-touch team move which ended with Trent Alexander-Arnold firing a low ball across the face of goal for the Dutchman to tap home.
Just one minute later, Klopp’s men were back on level terms again as Mohamed Salah slipped a pass through for Jota, who slammed a shot past the keeper for his second of the game.
That proved to be the end of the scoring as Southampton and Liverpool both ended their campaigns in entertaining fashion, albeit having both shown signs of why their seasons were ultimately disappointing.
