Brighton 0-2 Liverpool (Diaz ’19, Salah P ’61)
Liverpool cut the gap to Manchester City to just three points as Luis Diaz’s header and Mohamed Salah’s penalty saw them past Brighton.
City are still to play on Monday night against Crystal Palace, but Liverpool have kept the pressure on despite missing a host of chances at the Amex.
Brighton were fortunate to keep Robert Sanchez on the pitch after he collided with Luis Diaz for the opening goal, the Colombian continuing his fast start to life in the Premier League as he headed past the goalkeeper, taking a clattering in the process. Sanchez, guilty of a dangerous high boot, was not even booked following a VAR review.
The hosts had started brightly after four consecutive Premier League defeats, wearing a changed blue and yellow strip which they had been given permission to wear as a gesture of solidarity with Ukraine.
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Tariq Lamptey came close to setting up Neal Maupay for the opener, the Seagulls forward struggling to connect, and Leandro Trossard forced Alisson off his line as he latched on to a through ball to threaten the Reds – but Brighton’s perennial lack of a cutting edge shone through yet again.
Liverpool had to wait until after the hour mark to double their lead, Salah scoring the club’s 2,000th Premier League goal (a feat only matched by Manchester United) from the penalty spot after Yves Bissouma had handled in the area.
Pre-match talk had been dominated by talk of Salah’s ongoing contract stand-off, with talks reported to have stalled due to the player’s wage demands. A reminder, though, that Liverpool brought in Diaz – who can play on both flanks – precisely to combat a reliance on their existing front three.
Salah dragged two well-placed opportunities wide, with Sadio Mane also lacking sharpness. The Senegal forward produced a glorious skill to dink the ball over Joel Veltman’s head, only to subsequently drive it straight into Sanchez’s arms.
He was never going to miss, was he!? ????
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 12, 2022
Mo Salah smashes the ball home from the penalty spot to double Liverpool's advantagepic.twitter.com/1y1MWCtV32
Adam Lallana came on for a brief cameo against his former club, only to be replaced by Pascal Gross eight minutes later due to another injury setback.
Jurgen Klopp may also have concerns of his own, with Salah taking a knock shortly before coming off and Alisson left in pain after a late tackle from Maupay – though neither incident looked serious.
Brighton were denied a flimsy penalty appeal late on when Diogo Jota and Lewis Dunk wrestled in the box and the centre-back ended up on the turf, before Danny Welbeck forced Alisson into an impressive save in the air.
There is little let up for Graham Potter’s men either, as they face Tottenham on Wednesday evening with Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United still to play in their relegation battle.
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Player ratings
Brighton
- Sanchez 4
- Lamptey 6
- Veltman 5
- Dunk 6
- Cucurella 7
- Alzate 4
- Bissouma 6
- March 6
- Mac Allister 7
- Trossard 7
- Maupay 6
Substitutes:
- Lallana N/A
- Gross 6
- Welbeck 7
Liverpool
- Alisson 7
- Alexander-Arnold 7
- Matip 7
- Van Dijk 7
- Robertson 6
- Henderson 7
- Fabinho 6
- Keita 6
- Salah 6
- Mane 6
- Diaz 8
Substitutes:
- Jota 6
- Thiago 7
- Milner 6
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