There were little flashes all night from the little man wearing No 6. A beautiful scooped pass with the outside of a foot to Diogo Jota; a pirouette that sent Nathan Tella one way then the other; and a glorious, instinctive ball to Mohamed Salah.
Finally, though, with almost the last kick came the moment that might have the biggest impact for Thiago Alcantara. His first Liverpool goal, at the Kop End, was a beauty, a precision drive that sped past Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster and kept his side’s top-four hopes alive.