Liverpool move to within two points of CL spot post 2-0 win over Southampton

Liverpool recorded a 2-0 win over fifth-placed Southampton to move to within two points of a Champions League birth by scoring with their first two shots on target.

Philippe Coutinho helped Liverpool take the lead as he scored a 25-yard curler in the third minute.

Southampton then had two early penalty appeals turned down, as challenges on Filip Djuricic by Emre Can and Joe Allen went unpunished. Raheem Sterling also had a penalty claim rejected, but made it 2-0 when Matt Targett failed to clear a cross, the BBC reported.

Liverpool are the only team not to have lost a Premier League match in 2015 and are well placed to push for a top-four finish in their final 12 matches.

With the win, Brendan Rodgers' side has leapfrogged Tottenham Hotspur into sixth place and left them three points behind third-placed Arsenal.

Rodgers said that they knew that if they drew the game, there were enough games still to make a challenge for the top four. But, he added that to win the game was a giant step, claiming that they have beaten Southampton home and away and that's a sign of how well they are playing.