Liverpool vs Swansea City. Premier League.
AnfieldAttendance52,850.
Wednesday 27 December 2017 06:36, UK
Roberto Firmino scored twice as Liverpool eased to a 5-0 victory over struggling Swansea at Anfield on Boxing Day.
Philippe Coutinho's brilliant early strike laid the platform for a win which was sealed with a burst of goals after half-time.
Firmino made it 2-0 in the 52nd minute before scoring again 14 minutes later, shortly after Trent Alexander-Arnold netted his first Premier League goal for the club. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain then rounded off a comfortable win in the 82nd minute.
The victory sees Liverpool move up to fourth in the Premier League, five points behind second-placed Manchester United, while managerless Swansea stay bottom of the table, five points from safety.
Having drawn their previous three Premier League games at Anfield, Liverpool made the perfect start as Coutinho fired a brilliant shot into the top corner from 25 yards after six minutes.
But the hosts did not initially show the required intensity to build on the goal and Swansea stayed in the first half despite rarely threatening themselves.
The Swans were also guilty of giving the ball away cheaply on several occasions, but were not punished as Oxlade-Chamberlain and Firmino fired off target and the latter then spurned an excellent one-on-one chance in injury-time.
However, Liverpool soon put the result beyond doubt as they raised the tempo in the second half.
Firmino tapped in from Coutinho's free-kick to make it 2-0 before Alexander-Arnold fired into the roof of the net after collecting a clearance just outside the box.
Salah teed up Firmino to score another in the 66th minute and Oxlade-Chamberlain lobbed the fifth into the far corner after Swansea failed to clear their lines.
Jurgen Klopp: "The last half an hour was brilliant, the first 60 minutes was work. Swansea are a different team to the others, they didn't have a lot of chances but they play really good football and the plan is good. You need to be really compact, especially after you lose the ball."
Leon Britton: "It's a worrying situation. We have to keep going, whether that's myself or someone else. We have to give everything we have got because if we don't it will be a very long second half of the season."
Brazilian duo Coutinho and Firmino were Liverpool's star performers. The former scored a brilliant opener and looked a threat whenever he picked up the ball. However, Firmino takes the man-of-the-match award after recovering from a bad miss just before half-time to score twice in the win.
Liverpool are at home again on Saturday when they host Leicester. They then face a trip to Burnley on New Year's Day before a Merseyside derby against Everton in the FA Cup on Friday, January 5. Swansea travel to Watford on Saturday and then host Tottenham, live on Sky Sports Premier League, on Tuesday, January 2.
