Brighton 2-1 Liverpool: The reigning Premier League champions suffered another miserable defeat for star Danny Welbeck against Arn Slott’s side at the Amex Stadium.
Danny Welbeck has scored 12 goals this season (Image: Getty Images)
Liverpool suffered a huge blow as they advanced to the Champions League with a 2-1 defeat at Brighton on Saturday afternoon.
After a delayed kick-off, Brighton took advantage of Liverpool’s slow start and took the lead through Danny Welbeck’s goal. For the Reds, Milos Kerkes took advantage of a terrible mistake by Lewis Dunk to score the equalizer.
Welbeck then scored his second goal, giving the home side the lead back. The defeat left Liverpool in fifth place, but the gap between them and the top four could widen further.
Meanwhile, Brighton have moved up to eighth place, just six points behind Liverpool. Here are the talking points about Amex Stadium:
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Injury struggles continue
Heading into the match, Liverpool were already feeling the pinch in terms of injuries. Goalkeeper Alisson was forced to sit out, replaced by Giorgi Mamadashvili.
A further blow was dealt by Mohamed Salah being left out of the squad completely. Then, just after the start of the first half, Hugo Ekitike was sent off for a violent collision with James Milner, confirming his hat-trick through injury.
Slott will no doubt think the international break has come at the right time for his team.
The latest Liverpool star to take issue with Hugo Ekitike (Image: Getty Images)
Welbeck gives England a point
Danny Welbeck may have felt unlucky not to have been selected in Thomas Tuchel’s England 35-man squad. He stressed that he should have scored two goals against Liverpool.
Diego Gomez headed the ball deep into the box and over the goal. Welbeck then surpassed Konate and was nod in first place, just out of Mamadashvili’s reach.
He was then forced to wait for an offside ruling, but in the second half he found himself in wide space to take a shot from another centre. With these two goals, Welbeck has become the highest scoring English player in the Premier League this season.
Kerkes profits from his mistakes
Thanks to an inexplicable error, Liverpool eventually found their way back into the game. The defender dunked as he attempted to return a Liverpool clearance to goalkeeper Bert Verbruggen.
Unfortunately for the Brighton man, Kerkes was lurking behind him. The Hungarian grabbed the ball and pumped it past the goalkeeper and into the net.
Brighton will be relieved they didn’t fall victim, but it was definitely a crazy moment.
Kerkes celebrates the equalizer against Brighton (Image: Getty Images)
Goalkeeper proves his worth
The Georgian performed admirably for Brighton, considering Mamadashvili has been Liverpool’s reserve keeper this season. He made a number of important saves throughout the match, allowing the Reds to maintain their chances towards the end.
On the other hand, Fergbrüggen also shone, making a number of impressive stops.
Anyway, the game at Amex was certainly entertaining, but it could have been even more thrilling if not for two impressive shots from each goalkeeper.
liverpool will be lucky
In the closing stages it looked as if Mamadashvili might have to become Liverpool’s hero again. As Brighton looked to score a third goal, Konate was forced into a tangle and passed the ball to Welbeck.
In an attempt to win the ball back, the Frenchman appeared to push the striker down. However, the referee did not actively issue a penalty, and neither did VAR.
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