Liverpool ascended to the top of the Premier League table with a hard-earned 2-1 win over Brighton ahead of Manchester City’s vital showdown with Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.
Time was ticking down in the second half by the time Mohamed Salah dispatched the decisive strike, piling the pressure back on Jurgen Klopp’s title rivals.
Former Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck notched inside 90 seconds on Merseyside – the quickest a visiting player has netted at Anfield since 2019. Despite the shaky start, Liverpool rallied and worked their way back into the contest.
Enjoying the lion’s share of possession, the hosts were level when Luis Diaz poked home midway through the first period, but their defence was not as solid as Klopp will have hoped, leaving big spaces for Brighton to exploit on the counter-attack.
The match was on a knife edge until former Seagulls star Alexis Mac Allister – the first and best of Liverpool’s standout trio – brilliantly slid a pass between the lines to Salah, who slotted home with trademark efficiency to make it 2-1.
Mac Allister put in as classy a performance as he ever has in a Liverpool shirt, seeing plenty of the ball and completing the vast majority of his passes, despite not always playing it safe.
Signing in a £35million deal from Brighton last summer, the Argentine looks right at home in one of the Premier League’s title-chasing sides and has proved himself to be one of the acquisitions of the season.
The Reds thought they had built up a two-goal cushion later in the second half when Diaz – the second of the Liverpool stars Klopp should be thanking after the final whistle – squeezed a ball under Bart Verbruggen for what looked like his second goal of the game.
It was subsequently ruled out for a marginal offside, but the Colombian had plenty to be proud of after a neat and tidy showing on the ball all afternoon. His relentless energy on the left wing makes him a nightmare for opponents to deal with, and Joel Veltman had a tough couple of hours.
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The Seagulls tried to claw their way back into the contest during the closing stages, but failed to do so despite the inexperience on the right side of Liverpool’s back line.
Conor Bradley was a bundle of attacking intent at full-back and once again stood out among a high-class group of players, earning him a spot alongside Mac Allister and Diaz in Liverpool’s most impressive trio.
In the end, Klopp’s side did just enough to clinch the points, which will see them remain at the top of the table if Arsenal and City cannot be separated at the Etihad Stadium.
