Southampton and Liverpool played out a thrilling 4-4 draw at St. Mary's Stadium to end their respective 2022/23 campaigns.
Liverpool had taken a 2-0 lead before a shock comeback led to the Saints going 4-2 up. Two goals in the space of a minute late in the game from Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota, however, would spare the Reds' blushes.
Southampton, as they've done on plenty of occasions this season, shot themselves in the foot inside the opening 10 minutes of the game to gift Liverpool the lead. A sloppy attempt to play the ball out from deep culminated in Romeo Lavia playing a horrific pass inside his own penalty area which was cut out by Diogo Jota, and subsequently tapped into the net.
The Saints continued to be their shambolic selves four minutes later when Roberto Firmino latched onto the ball inside the penalty area, sent two Southampton defenders to the floor with a fake shot, then fired past McCarthy.
After looking hellbent on losing their final game of the season 20-0, Ruben Selles' side miraculously managed to find the back of the net in the 19th minute through James Ward-Prowse. After some neat interplay on the right hand side of the penalty box, Carlos Alcaraz was able to fire the ball into Ward-Prowse on the left of the box, who then curled into the bottom right corner of the net.
In the 27th minute something even more miraculous happened: Southampton drew level. The leveller would come from Kamaldeen Sulemana, who slid the ball under Caoimhin Kelleher after being played through on goal by Theo Walcott.
At the very start of the second half, Southampton would take a shocking lead. After latching onto the ball inside his own half, Sulemana burst down the pitch before brilliantly curling into the bottom right corner of the net from the edge of the box. A truly stunning goal.
It was 4-2 before too long thanks to substitute Adam Armstrong and some sloppy play from Joel Matip. The defender passed the ball directly to Armstrong who was then able to burst through on goal and drilled the ball into the net.
Liverpool were able to reduce their arrears in the 72nd minute through Cody Gakpo, who tapped home from close range to make it 4-3.
Then, literally 30 seconds later, it was 4-4.
The Reds' fourth came courtesy of Jota who, after being played the ball by Mohamed Salah, rifled the ball into the top corner of the net from just inside the box.
Southampton player ratings
GK: Alex McCarthy - 2/10 - Distribution was utterly atrocious and he conceded four times.
RB: James Bree - 4/10 - Struggled against Diogo Jota all afternoon.
CB: Jan Bednarek - 3/10 - He wasn't good. He rarely is.
CB: Lyanco - 4/10 - Had his work cut out for him today.
LB: Kyle Walker-Peters - 7/10 - Kept Salah fairly quiet on the flank.
RM: Theo Walcott - 6/10 - Wonderful through ball to create Southampton's second.
CM: James Ward Prowse - 7/10 - Scored on what could be his last game for the Saints.
CM: Romeo Lavia - 3/10 - His woeful pass in his own box led to the opener.
LM: Mohamed Elyounoussi - 4/10 - He didn't offer enough.
ST: Carlos Alcaraz - 6/10 - Created Southampton's first. He'll be a clever signing for a Premier League club this summer.
ST: Kamaldeen Sulemana - 8/10 - Scored two goals, with the second being a genuine goal of the season contender.
Substitutes
SUB: Adam Armstrong - 7/10 - Scored Southampton's fourth almost immediately after coming on.
SUB: Stuart Armstrong - N/A
SUB: Tino Livramento - N/A
SUB: Dominic Ballard - N/A
SUB: Samuel Amo-Ameyaw - N/A
Manager
Ruben Selles - 6/10 - One of Southampton's better performances of the season.
Liverpool player ratings
GK: Caoimhin Kelleher - 3/10 - He conceded four. Probably should've conceded three. Not a great showing.
RB : Trent Alexander-Arnold - 4/10 - Nowhere near as influential as he has been in recent weeks.
CB: Joe Gomez - 3/10 - Quite poor, as he has been pretty much every time he's played this season.
CB: Joel Matip - 3/10 - Caught with runs in behind on one too many an occasion, and then gave up possession in the lead up to the fourth goal.
LB: Kostas Tsimikas - 4/10 - Booked and didn't get forward as much as Klopp would've liked.
CM: James Milner - 5/10 - Put in a decent shift in his final game for the club.
CM: Fabinho - 6/10 - Bagged an assist for Firmino's goal.
CM: Curtis Jones - 5/10 - A solid outing from the in-form midfielder.
RW: Mohamed Salah - 6/10 - Bagged an assist but not as effective as he usually is.
ST: Roberto Firmino - 7/10 - Scored a lovely goal to mark his final game for Liverpool.
LW: Diogo Jota - 8/10 - Anticipated well to score Liverpool's first, and then bagged their fourth and his second in stunning fashion in the final 20 minutes.
Substitutes
SUB: Harvey Elliott - N/A
SUB: Cody Gakpo - 6/10 - Came on and scored a goal. He's going to be a big asset for Klopp moving forward.
SUB: Jordan Henderson - N/A.
SUB: Luis Diaz - N/A
Manager
Jurgen Klopp - 5/10 - He'll be disappointed with his heavily-rotated defence's performance away at the worst team in the Premier League.
Player of the match: Diogo Jota (Liverpool)
This article was originally published on 90min as Southampton 4-4 Liverpool: Player ratings from thrilling end of season clash.