SOUTHAMPTON, England (AP) — Goals from Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota salvaged a 4-4 draw for Liverpool at Southampton in the Premier League on Sunday as the Merseyside club’s season ended in wild circumstances.
Jurgen Klopp’s team had blown a two-goal lead at St Mary’s before coming back from 4-2 down to scramble a point.
Gakpo and Jota both struck in the space of a minute of each other to ensure a disappointing campaign for Liverpool at least did not end in defeat.
Klopp’s side has endured a troubled season that has seen it miss out on qualification for the Champions League for the first time since 2016. But there have been clear signs of improvement in recent weeks, with Liverpool heading into Sunday’s match on the back of a 10-game unbeaten streak.
The visitors were 2-0 up after goals from Jota in the 10th minute and Roberto Firmino in the 14th.
James Ward-Prowse — who was potentially making his final Southampton appearance — halved the deficit in the 19th when slotting into the bottom-right corner after being picked out by Carlos Alcaraz.
Kamaldeen Sulemana evened the score in the 28th and then fired Southampton ahead two minutes after halftime.
Substitute Adam Armstrong intercepted Jordan Henderson’s pass and fired low to make it 4-2 in the 64th as already-relegated Southampton looked set to go down in style.
Gakpo tapped in Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross in the 72nd to pull one back for Liverpool and a minute later Jota found space to lash home his second from Mohamed Salah’s pass.
Salah almost snatched victory for Liverpool, but his attempted control from a long pass struck the left post after looping over the head of goalkeeper Alex McCarthy.
James Milner and Firmino started on their farewell appearances for the Europa League-bound Reds.
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