London: Liverpool relied on two Mohamed Salah penalties to secure a 3-1 victory over bottom-placed Southampton on Saturday, while Nottingham Forest edged closer to Champions League qualification with a crucial 1-0 win over Manchester City.

Despite a sluggish first half, Liverpool extended their lead at the top to 16 points.

Fresh off a hard-fought 1-0 Champions League win against Paris Saint-Germain, manager Arne Slot made only three changes to his lineup. However, the Dutchman was compelled to make three substitutions at halftime to spark a response from the title favorites.

"The manager was like going for us - but that's something you need sometimes. Because first half, the game was sloppy," said Salah.

Southampton, with just nine points from 28 games this season, shocked Anfield by taking the lead in first-half stoppage time when Will Smallbone capitalized on a mix-up between Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk to roll the ball into an empty net.

Liverpool boss Arne Slot responded at halftime by bringing on Harvey Elliott, Alexis Mac Allister, and Andy Robertson—changes that quickly paid off.

Darwin Nunez equalized with a sharp near-post finish from Luis Diaz's cross before winning a penalty minutes later, which Mohamed Salah calmly converted.

Salah sealed the win with a second spot-kick two minutes from time, taking his season tally to 32 goals.

Second-placed Arsenal, with two games in hand, face Manchester United on Sunday, but Liverpool’s march toward a second league title in 35 years seems inevitable.

Forest pulled four points clear of City in third thanks to Callum Hudson-Odoi's late winner at the City Ground.

The former Chelsea winger fired past Ederson on 83 minutes from Morgan Gibbs-White's pass to spark jubilant scenes of celebration as Forest beat the English champions for the first time since 1997.

Two-time European champions, Forest have not experienced the continent's top competition since 1980.

But they are closing in on the Champions League with a top-five finish almost certain to be enough thanks to the strong performance of English teams in Europe this season.

"We are not here to joke", Hudson-Odoi posted on social media. "Goal, MOTM (man-of-the-match), three points!"

City remain fourth and are looking over their shoulders after a ninth league defeat of the season.

Pep Guardiola's men are likely to be overtaken by Chelsea, when they host struggling Leicester on Sunday.

Aston Villa closed to within two points of the top four as Ollie Watkins came back to haunt Brentford once more in a 1-0 win in west London.

Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken let the England striker's effort fly through his legs on 49 minutes as Watkins struck for the sixth time in six games against his former club.

Brighton boosted their own Champions League hopes courtesy of Joao Pedro's 98th-minute penalty to beat Fulham 2-1.

Raul Jimenez's strike opened the scoring for Fulham, but Jean Paul van Hecke levelled before half-time.

Pedro's spot-kick lifts the Seagulls to sixth and within one point of City.

Crystal Palace shrugged off the loss of top scorer Jean-Philippe Mateta to a serious ear injury to beat Ipswich 1-0 thanks to Ismaila Sarr's winner.

The Eagles have won nine of their last 11 games in all competitions and climb to 11th.

Wolves edged six points clear of the relegation zone after a 1-1 draw against Everton.

Marshall Munetsi cancelled out Jack Harrison's opener for the visitors at Molineux as Everton extended their unbeaten league run to eight games.