Match reportLuis Diaz and Mohamed Salah strike as Liverpool come from behind to beat Brighton at Anfield
Liverpool came from behind to beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 at Anfield and maintain their pursuit of the Premier League title.
Mohamed Salah’s Kop-end finish midway through the second half settled Sunday’s game in the Reds’ favour, after Luis Diaz had equalised Danny Welbeck’s second-minute opener.
Jürgen Klopp’s side could have been further ahead to relieve themselves of the tense finish that developed.
But they stood firm amid a spell of late Brighton pressure to ensure they returned from the international break with a vital victory in front of a new record league attendance of 60,061.
Team news
Conor Bradley came into the starting XI in place of Andy Robertson in Liverpool’s sole change from their last outing at Old Trafford.
Liverpool: Kelleher, Gomez, Endo, Van Dijk, Diaz (Gakpo, 89), Szoboszlai (Gravenberch, 90+4), Nunez (Elliott, 83), Mac Allister, Salah, Quansah, Bradley.
Unused subs: Adrian, Konate, Tsimikas, Clark, McConnell, Danns.
- Download the official teamsheet here
First half
Welbeck’s finish – the forward crisply drove in the loose ball from just inside the area following a breakaway down the left flank – put Brighton ahead before the game had settled into any kind of rhythm.
Liverpool reacted well, although they lacked a cutting edge and visiting goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen was not required to make a save during a flurry of off-target attempts.
Salah sent a trademark curler just wide of the top corner before miscuing a volley from a lovely, clipped pass by Alexis Mac Allister, who had just seen a shot of his own clear the crossbar.
Salah then toe-poked wide after Bradley had strode forward from right-back but the Reds were not behind for much longer.
Brighton could only partially clear a corner and Salah won a header on the edge of the box, with Diaz reading the situation perfectly to profit from a deflection off a defender and hook home on the volley.
A string of half-chances came and went for Liverpool prior to the break – Salah perhaps spurning the best of them when he side-footed straight at Verbruggen after a rapid counter-attack – and the teams went in level at the interval.
Second half
Attacking the Kop end, Klopp’s team were dominant from the first whistle of the second period as their hunt for a second goal was ramped up.
Mac Allister glanced a header wide and a fierce near-post hit by Darwin Nunez was repelled by Verbruggen as the pressure grew.
Eventually, Brighton could resist no longer as Salah rounded off a fine team move that began patiently before being accelerated by Dominik Szoboszlai.
The No.8 had pulled out to the right wing and punched a pass inside to the ever-influential Mac Allister, who in turn sliced the visitors’ back line apart with a weighted through ball for Salah. The Egyptian’s radar was calibrated now and he duly dispatched an unerring low finish.
It was so nearly 3-1 soon after when Diaz converted Salah’s pass only for the No.7 to be judged offside by a fraction.
Salah saw a low shot saved by Verbruggen after Liverpool sped away on the counter following a Brighton corner and still the third goal eluded the hosts.
And they were nearly made to rue that fact when Lewis Dunk sent a towering header towards the bottom corner, only for Caoimhin Kelleher to make a superb sprawling stop.
There was still time for another heart-stopping moment for the Anfield faithful when former Red Adam Lallana angled a low effort just wide but, after Verbruggen had denied Salah at full stretch, the final whistle was blown and the points were Liverpool’s.
Attendance: 60,061
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