Roberto “Bobby” Firmino served up a hattrick of goal assists for his teammates as Liverpool outclassed Southampton 4-0 on Saturday.
The Premier League leaders had to work hard for their three points at Anfield after being held goalless in the first half.
But the Brazilian No.9 provided the magic that broke the deadlock with a backheel pass to set up Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for the 47th-minute opener.
Firmino then led the counter for the second, before cutting back to skipper Jordan Henderson to make it 2-0 just before the hour mark.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/SouthamptonFC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SouthamptonFC🙌
— Liverpool FC (@LFC)
Mo Salah was next to score for the Reds, finishing off another full-length-of-the-pitch attack by the hosts to pretty much seal the points with 18 minutes to play.
But Salah scored his second after a one-two with Firmino for an emphatic scoreline.
And Oxlade-Chamberlain hailed Firmino, saying: “That’s the way he plays and he does those magnificent things all the time.
"I love him, I absolutely love him. He’s such a joy to play with and to feed off.
“He’s always looking for others, he works for the team and his skills speak for themselves. He’s a top man and we all love him.”
The win took the Reds to an historic 22-point overnight lead – the biggest gap of the lead at any stage in English football – ahead of second-place Manchester City’s result at Spurs on Sunday night.
Of his team’s achievement, German coach Jurgen Klopp says: “The boys put a sensational shift in, everybody went to the point and above, so that makes this group really special.
Liverpool's manager Jurgen Klopp. Picture: JON SUPER/AP
“We didn’t want to have a 22-point difference to other teams today, we wanted to have 73 points after that matchday.”
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