Aribo, Onuachu Give Southampton Second Win of the Season

*Liverpool’s 2-0 win at Bournemouth lifts The Reds nine points clear at the top

Duro Ikhazuagbe 

Nigerian duo of Joe Aribo and Paul Onuachu made possible Southampton’s second Premier League victory of the season yesterday as The Saints defeated fellow strugglers at the bottom Ipswich 2-1.

It was Aribo who 

An error from Ipswich’s Arijanet Muric allowed Aribo to put Southampton in front with a well-taken shot in the 21st minute.

However, it didn’t take Ipswich too long to level the scores through Liam Delap. He took Nathan Broadhead’s pass in his stride before riding a Jan Bednarek sliding challenge and calmly slotted past Aaron Ramsdale in goal for Southampton in the 31st minute.

Having kept Ipswich at bay following the restart, the away side almost retook the lead when a corner dropped to Aribo, but this time, the midfielder couldn’t direct his strike on target. Much like the first half, Ipswich gradually asserted their dominance and looked the most likely to score as the full-time whistle drew nearer.

A low drive from Delap couldn’t beat Ramsdale from a tight angle with just under 20 minutes to go, which proved costly as Southampton stunned Ipswich late on.

However, with the clocking winding down to regulation time, Paul Onuachu scored the dramatic late winner as Southampton secured all three points for the second time this season.

Onuachu profited from fellow teammate substitute Kamaldeen Sulemana’s effort that was parried by Muric into his pathway. The forgotten Super Eagles forward was on hand to prod in the rebound for his own second Premier League goal since he made the switch to England from Belgium’s Jupiler league.

The victory is Southampton’s only second win of the season after they first won in November.

Southampton now have nine points from 24 matches to remain rock bottom of the standings and eight points from safety.

Elsewhere, Liverpool moved nine points clear at the top of the Premier League as Mohamed Salah’s double saw off a battling Bournemouth 2-0  at a noisy Vitality Stadium.

Salah is now on 178 league goals, lifting him to sixth on the list in the Premier League era, ahead of Frank Lampard on 177.

He is the top goalscorer in the Premier League with 21 goals, the fifth season in which he has scored 20 or more goals in the English top flight

The Egyptian put the Reds ahead with a well-taken 30th-minute penalty, awarded after Lewis Cook was judged to have clipped the heels of Cody Gakpo.

Bournemouth had already gained wins over Arsenal, Manchester City and Nottingham Forest this season and had almost taken the lead against the Reds when it was goalless, only for Antoine Semenyo’s shot to bounce off the left post.

Semenyo then had a great chance to equalise early in the second half, only for Alisson to make an excellent save with his legs to keep out the well-struck effort.

The Reds are now on 56 points from 23 matches, although Arsenal will cut the gap back to six points if they win at home against Manchester City today.