Liverpool rallies to beat Brighton and seize Premier League top spot

After four months at Anfield, this could be the day Arne Slot truly established himself as Liverpool’s manager, News.Az reports citing The Telegraph.

When inspiration was needed, a team and stadium in need of galvanising after a shocking 45 minutes, Slot and his players found the answers. Mohamed Salah’s sizzling winner completed a stirring comeback against Brighton and suddenly Liverpool are top of the Premier League again.

Liverpool will linger on the joys of the second half, how the old intensity returned and Brighton did not know what hit them as Slot saw the power of Anfield for arguably the first time since his appointment.

They must also heed the lesson from the turmoil of the first half.

Throughout their excellent run at the start of Slot’s reign, there has been a nagging doubt that something is not quite right. Theories abound. Do they need a No 10 or striker with more killer instinct? Are they occasionally guilty of slowing the game down too much when a higher tempo is required.

Such criticisms sound churlish in the midst of a record-breaking run, but in the first half against Brighton an issue was exposed.

The side that was once the best in the world without the ball – harrying to get it back and often treating opponents with contempt for having the audacity to attempt a passing sequence near Liverpool’s penalty area – had disappeared.

Too many home players were committing the cardinal sin of ducking out of tackles, at best casual when it came to retrieving possession and at worst half-hearted.

Brighton deserved their lead on 14 minutes, their passing triangles yielding the reward of Ferdi Kadioglu’s diagonal shot beating Caoimhin Kelleher. But for Kelleher it would have been two, the Irish keeper denying Georginio Rutter in a one-on-one. That followed a glorious pass from Yasin Ayari.

The Kop demanded more. More pertinently, Slot did the same and Liverpool responded, peppering Brighton’s goal until Cody Gakpo’s cross went directly past Bert Verbruggen on 69 minutes. Three minutes later Salah completed the turnaround to go ahead of Robbie Fowler in the all-time Premier League goal list with the 162nd of his Liverpool career. None will have looked or felt much sweeter.

News.Az