Southampton battled back from two goals down to beat Liverpool 3-2 in a dramatic Premier League clash at St Mary's Stadium this afternoon.

The Saints were seemingly out of the game just a quarter of the way through, as goals from Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge put the visitors well in control.

Sadio Mane came off the bench to spark an impressive turnaround, however, scoring twice in the final 30 minutes - having earlier missed a penalty - to salvage three valuable points for his side.

The most unlikely of victories for Southampton takes them three points above their opponents into seventh place as the race to land a top-five finish heats up.

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It may have been a different story entirely had Roger East not incorrectly ruled out Shane Long's shout for a penalty nine minutes into the match, after the Irishman was shoved to the ground by ex-Saint Dejan Lovren.

That came after another all-too-rare first-half opening for the hosts, as Virgil van Dijk glanced a header wide of the far post when jumping highest just a few yards from goal.

Southampton's early foothold on the game soon made way for Liverpool's one-way traffic, with Sturridge firing in a warning shot from range less than 60 seconds before Coutinho eventually opened the scoring.

From the Reds' first real attempt, the Brazilian was allowed to drift in from the left and curl an effort beyond the reach of Fraser Forster into the bottom corner from 25 yards out.

The breakthrough goal may not have been deserved on the balance of play up until that point, but the visitors were growing more and more into the game and doubled their advantage five minutes later.

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Divock Origi, the scorer of a hat-trick here when the sides last met in December, slipped in Sturridge at the end of a swift counter for the Englishman to coolly slot home the second.

It would have been game over with less than half-an-hour played had Joe Allen converted when clean through on goal, only to be denied by a big Forster save.

Southampton were not learning their lessons, however, and once more Sturridge was picked out after Liverpool worked another three-against-two position at the back, but Forster came out on top on this occasion.

Forster was unable to deny Allen's well-struck shot 33 minutes in, but the Reds' celebrations were brought to an end 30 seconds after the net had rippled due to Mamadou Sakho's offside positioning once the ball had been hit through a sea of bodies.

The 6-1 thrashing here just a few months ago may have been playing on the minds of supporters in the ground, but the Saints did well to see out the remainder of the half unhurt.

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Much like in the first half, Southampton started brightly after the restart and were rewarded with a penalty less than two minutes in after substitute Martin Skrtel brought down Graziano Pelle inside the box.

It was another of the half-time subs, Mane, who stepped up to take the spot kick which Simon Mignolet got across well to push aside to safety.

Perhaps sensing that their lead was not as stable as it once looked, Liverpool pushed on and continued racking up shots through Origi and Emre Can heading into an incredible final 30 minutes.

Ronald Koeman may have been feeling that it was just not to be for his side after Oriol Romeu's strike was tipped over by the fingertips of Mignolet, yet from the next attacking move they finally found a way through.

Mane took on Pelle's pass in the box before turning and shooting across Mignolet, helping to reduce the arrears and giving the South Coast club some real hope of rescuing at least a point from a game that looked dead and buried at one stage.

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Liverpool could have made sure of the points for good when Christian Benteke found himself through on goal after coming off the bench, only for a dragged attempt to leave the match still in the balance.

The big drama really was kept until the end, however, as first Pelle worked the ball onto his left foot to power a shot beyond the reach of Mignolet from 20 yards, before Mane capitalised on a poor Mignolet clearance to fire the Saints into a shock lead a minute or so later.

Jurgen Klopp's men failed to muster any more chances in the remaining time to see their recent impressive form come to a crushing halt.