Jurgen Klopp’s side were flying high after consecutive 5-0 wins in the Premier League, and continued their good form, taking an early lead. Virgil Van Dijk’s pass isolated Mohamed Salah against Marc Cucurella and the Egyptian cut inside before laying off to Jordan Henderson to finish. The skipper slotted into the far corner brilliantly to put the hosts ahead, just a minute after Alisson made a superb stop to deny Solly March at the other end.
Despite controlling possession, Liverpool continued to be open defensively and had another scare as Yves Bissouma’s effort was tipped onto the post by Alisson. Their quality in the final third was brutal, though, as they doubled their lead after 24 minutes. Substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s pinpoint cross was met by Sadio Mané to nod past Robert Sanchez and give the hosts a two-goal lead.
A third was ruled out before HT as Mané’s brilliant play to challenge Sanchez and score came with the use of his hand. The ‘Seagulls’ finally got a goal for their efforts minutes before the interval as Enock Mwepu’s wayward cross lobbed Alisson and slotted into the corner.
Salah had the ball in the net at the start of the second half but saw his effort chalked off for offside. Graham Potter’s men were growing into the game and got an equaliser on the hour mark. Adam Lallana slotted Leandro Trossard in and the Belgian expertly went past Andrew Robertson to finish and silence Anfield.
Brighton thought they’d won it late on when Trossard finished through Alisson’s legs, but he was offside as he received the pass from Tariq Lamptey and a third goal of the afternoon was disallowed. Neither side was able to find a winner in a breathless encounter that saw the hosts lose ground in the title race to Chelsea.
