Liverpool moved top of the Premier League table after coming from behind to beat Brighton 2-1 at Anfield.
Jurgen Klopp’s side moved above Arsenal at the top of the division, temporarily at least, after Mohamed Salah’s second-half winner secured the Reds an important three points in their title challenge.
Liverpool got off to a nightmare start when Danny Welbeck thumped Brighton ahead inside 87 seconds, with the former Manchester United forward rifling a bouncing ball into the top corner.
Luis Diaz got Liverpool level before half-time as the Colombian flicked in a finish after ghosting in behind, with the home side regrouping to take the ascendancy after Welbeck’s early opener.
The winner arrived on 65 minutes when Salah – who had missed a host of earlier chances – collected Alexis Mac Allister’s clever pass and cooly slotted past Bart Verbruggen.
“I would have loved to not be 1-0 down, I would love to have been four or five nil up but that’s the best we played against De Zerbi’s Brighton,” Klopp said, speaking to BBC MOTD:
“Playing wise it was really good, defending wise, yes always a struggle but there’s been games against Brighton we were never close but this time we were calm. That is the first of the last 10, let’s keep going.”
Klopp was full of praise for the move that led to Liverpool’s decisive goal, as Dominik Szoboszlai, Mac Allister and Salah combined in a well-worked winner.
“That is an unbelievable ball [from Dominik Szoboszlai]. It is the creativity and the quality, seeing that. He sees Macca, his first touch is incredible and then he sees Mo. How wasteful we were at all the other moments it was good we had this genius football moment to finish the game off.
“Brighton have incredible quality. That is the measure I have for how good we were today because I really respect them. They had chances, they took more risks all of a sudden and we got slightly tired.
“We deserved to win the game. That is what you want and then on top of that it is really cool.”
Liverpool moved three points clear at the summit ahead of Manchester City’s clash with Arsenal at the Etihad. Asked where he will be watching the fixture between Liverpool’s two title rivals, Klopp said: “We have a booth room and I will watch a bit of it because the traffic is now heavy to get out of the stadium.
“We just have to win our games and see where we end up.”
