Liverpool came from behind to beat a resilient Brighton side, in the Premier League as Arne Slot’s side defeated Brighton twice in a week.
It was the visitors who started the better of the two sides as they deservedly took the lead in the 13th minute through Ferdi Kadioglu who drilled his shot passed Caoimhín Kelleher.
With the hosts lucky to not to be more down at the break, a big second half was needed.
Cody Gakpo levelled in the 69th minute, catching out Bart Verbruggen in the Brighton net.
A few minutes later, in a classic Reds counter attack Mohamed Salah netted his seventh Premier League goal of the season in trademark style curling the ball into the top corner.
The win takes Liverpool back to the top of the table, after Manchester City lost 2-1 to Bournemouth at the Vitality.
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A game of two halves
Liverpool found themselves early on, under significant pressure from Fabian Hürzeler’s side, with Brighton dominanted the duels, being much more aggressive and restricting Liverpool to minimal chances, which has been a rare sight for Arne Slot’s side this season.
Brighton’s confidence on the ball was there for all to see, as the breakthrough involved 21 passes for Ferdi Kadioglu who scored his first goal for the club.
It could have been more for Brighton as Georginio Rutter had a golden chance to double the visitors lead denied by Kelleher as well as Danny Welbeck’s free kick that crashed the side netting of the Liverpool goal.
However, in the second half Liverpool’s use of the ball was much improved with the buildup, as chances started coming down the Brighton goal.
Though with Liverpool still 0-1 down in the 66th minute, their head coach went to his bench and brought on more fire power in Luis Díaz and Curtis Jones, for Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai.
Within five minutes of the substitutions Liverpool had turned the game around and with having four forwards left on the pitch Slot brought on Wataru Endo on for Darwin Núñez to sure up the midfield as Liverpool hung on without any real chances for Brighton.
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Importance of Joe Gomez
As the first half came to a close Ibrahima Konaté was down in pain to his arm, with the physios using his shirt as a make shift sling as he the players came in for the break.
With Liverpool 0-1 down and loosing arguably their best defender this season, it looks to be a huge miss no matter how long he could be out for.
Joe Gomez replaced Konaté for the second half and Liverpool looked assured from the get go.
Gomez won all his ground and ariel duels he faced in the second half (fotmob), something Slot has often highlighted as key fundamentals for his central defenders. If Gomez maintains that level of performance, in the absence of Konate should soften the blow, with Virgil Van Dijk and Joe Gomez having years of experience playing with one another at centre back.
The impressive performance from Joe Gomez highlights the importance of the entire Liverpool squad, as he only played 10 minutes in the Premier League prior to today, showing Slot that his squad is more than prepared to step up when and where needed.
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Mohamed Salah inevitability
Mohamed Salah has yet again scored a critical goal for Liverpool this season, as his trade mark strike sealed the comeback.
This is now a third game in a row Salah has scored in the Premier League in Liverpool’s challenging fixture run, following strikes against Arsenal and Chelsea.
That being said for large parts of the game Salah was very quiet, but similar to the Arsenal game he got his chance late in the second half and got his reward. If Salah remains fit, he will no doubt be integral to Liverpool if they are to try and win the Premier League this season as they sit two points clear of Manchester City.
Salah’s strike was 164th goal in Premier League history now overtaking Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler, as he sits eighth in the all time top goal scorer list.
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Huge win in the title race
With Arsenal losing to Newcastle in the earlier kick off, Manchester City also loosing to Bournemouth and Liverpool edging past Brighton 2-1, Liverpool end the day two points clear at the top of the table.
In a day which looked to have all three sides dropping points at one point, the Reds first Premier League comeback win under Slot has shown to be a bigger win than first anticipated, as the momentum stays with Liverpool, achieving 13 points out of a possible 15 in their last five games.
The tough fixtures keep coming for all three teams next weekend, as Manchester City face Brighton, Liverpool host Aston Villa and Arsenal play Chelsea. With injuries mounting for all three teams, the busy winter period is gonna be a huge test for all the teams squads.
