Liverpool 2-0 Brighton: Hugo Ekitike was the hero as Mohamed Salah returned to the team after falling out with Arne Slott and the Reds secured a much-needed victory.
Mohamed Salah returned and Hugo Ekitike scored twice as Liverpool looked set to comfortably beat Brighton at Anfield. It’s been a difficult time for Liverpool with the Salah scandal looming large, but they showed some style at Anfield, extending their unbeaten run to five games and suggesting they are getting back into form.
Ekitike put Liverpool ahead within a minute thanks to Brighton’s sloppy defending and Joe Gomez’s knockdown. Alisson had to be alert to deny Diego Gomez a one-on-one before Mohamed Salah was called up from the bench to replace Joe Gomez.
Diego Gomez avoided a red card for Florian Wirtz’s high foot and Brighton came close to leveling the score after the break when Gomez put a low cross wide and Brian Gruda narrowly missed the post.
Ekitike was guilty of missing two good chances but made up for it minutes later with a free header from Salah’s deep corner kick. Brighton continued to create and miss chances, with Mats Wiefer bursting wide rather than picking out two unmarked team-mates in the six-yard box.
read more: Premier League explains controversial red card decision in Liverpool vs. Brightonread more: Liverpool legend Ian Rush admitted to intensive care with scary flu
Salah created a relatively easy chance over the bar after being teed up by Federico Chiesa in stoppage time, and also overhit a simple pass on the counter-attack, but in the end it didn’t matter to Liverpool. Here’s what’s hot from Anfield:
1. Fast startup
Liverpool were prepared for a quiet start and TV cameras zooming in on the bench to spot Salah. They needed to make the football the story and after a shot of Salah sharing a joke with Andy Robertson, Liverpool brought proceedings back to the pitch.
Yankuba Minte made a horrible attempt at a cross-field clearance and lifted the ball for Gomez to attack. The Liverpool right-back reached goal ahead of Diego Gomez’s fake shot and Ekitike nodded into the center of the box, receiving a touch and finishing confidently past Bad Verbruggen.
The goal came 46 seconds later, making it the fastest goal in the Premier League this season. As a statement of intent, and a statement of unity that Arne Slott was always referring to this week, it was perfect.
2. Salah receives a hero’s welcome
No matter what happens, he seems to be the main character. However, due to Joe Gomez’s injury, Slott opted to move Dominik Szoboszlai to right-back and bring on the Egyptian, who ended up playing much earlier than expected.
The reaction from the Anfield crowd was loud and clear. Salah was greeted with loud cheers and applause as he rose from the bench, quickly followed by a performance of his famous song. He almost scored an assist in the first minute of his return, but Alexis Mac Allister was unable to make the most of his through ball.
3. Konate struggles
Perhaps even more than Salah, Ibrahima Konate has been the villain at Anfield in recent weeks. The centre-backs were erratic, out of position, error-prone and generally inconsistent. However, Slott had little choice but to continue playing with the Frenchman in the hope of rekindling his previously strong partnership with Virgil van Dijk.
There were signs here that Konate may be working towards a comeback. The familiar ‘IBOUUUU’ chant could be heard from the Kop as Brighton winger Minte’s counter-attack got things going after a crucial block. And another seagull’s attack was always repelled by Konate’s head.
4. VAR controversy
The action-packed first half ended with Florian Wirtz landing a stud to the stomach of Diego Gomez. The Paraguayan international was clearly high and slow, but was only given a yellow card by referee Craig Pawson.
Liverpool clearly felt his challenge deserved a red, but VAR Darren England agreed with his colleagues and Gomez escaped. Premier League Match Center wrote: “The referee’s yellow card for Gomez was confirmed by VAR and the challenge on Wirtz was deemed not to have been due to excessive force and was not considered a serious foul.”
5. Salah says goodbye
At this time, it does not appear that he will be heading to Saudi Arabia in January. However, this will be Salah’s last game for Liverpool for some time as he will represent Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Slott have recently been looking for ways to play without Szoboszlai, using him in the right-hand position up front. But the Hungarian international’s injury scare here probably shows they need to be careful about overusing him. With Kodi Gakpo unavailable, Alexander Isaac and Chiesa came off the bench in the closing stages, while Rio Ngmoha could also be a candidate to fill the void.
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