There was rancour and recrimination when Mohamed Salah last faced Brighton, at Anfield in December, along with doubt over whether he would be seen in a Liverpool shirt again. Fast forward two months and the Egyptian great is starting, scoring and shaping games for Arne Slot again. Appeasement between the pair is for the greater good.
Salah produced a sublime assist, his fourth since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, and scored from the penalty spot as Liverpool moved into round five with a commanding victory over Fabian Hürzeler’s struggling team. There was no evidence of Brighton not performing for their under-pressure manager but their lack of cutting edge was glaring, as was the case when visiting here in the Premier League.
Curtis Jones and a stunning strike from Dominik Szoboszlai – “one of the best players in the world right now”, according to Salah – condemned Brighton before the Egypt international applied the final blow. It could have been worse for Hürzeler’s side had the substitute Rio Ngumoha not had a late goal wrongly disallowed for offside.
“It is very nice to have Mo on the scoresheet again,” said Slot, who rested Hugo Ekitiké and Ryan Gravenberch on the bench but otherwise went strong with his lineup. “But what I like the most is he also helps the team a lot defensively and that is something very positive. It is what the team needs. Also, more players are capable of playing at this intensity level every three days and so more and more we see the quality we have.”
This was a slow-burning cup tie. Liverpool needed half an hour to find any urgency while Brighton had the better of the opening exchanges without seriously troubling Alisson. Hürzeler could take some encouragement from his players’ confidence in possession and pressing game but a third successive game without a goal underlined where their weakness lies.
Jones, the latest Liverpool player to be handed the cursed right-back shift, signalled the start of the improvement when sending an angled drive just wide of Jason Steele’s top corner. Cody Gakpo headed in from Szoboszlai’s free-kick minutes later but from an offside position.
Liverpool were finally playing with the intensity and intent that the occasion demanded. Salah broke clear of Ferdi Kadioglu and had the ball taken off his toes by the Brighton left-back just as he shaped to shoot. Milos Kerkez then stung Steele’s fingertips having been found in space behind the visitors’ defence by Alexis Mac Allister’s quickly taken free-kick.
Brighton could not escape the Liverpool pressure and were finally breached shortly before the interval. A tackle by striker Charalampos Kostoulas on Mac Allister inadvertently played the ball to Kerkez. The Hungarian left-back swept a dangerous low cross into the six-yard box where Jones, arriving unmarked between Jan Paul van Hecke and Kadioglu, side-footed home via the underside of the crossbar. The midfielder’s first goal of the season rewarded a dominant spell by Liverpool yet sparked an immediate response from Brighton.
Jack Hinshelwood could have levelled swiftly when beating Gakpo to Harry Howell’s corner but headed wastefully over at close range. A slip by Jones in first-half stoppage time presented Diego Gómez with a one-v-one against Alisson. The Liverpool keeper came out on top, saving the forward’s low shot with his legs.
Fortune favoured Alisson early in the second half when his clearance struck the in-coming Gómez and rebounded wide of the Liverpool goal. The keeper then made a vital intervention to prevent Lewis Dunk’s header reaching the unmarked Van Hecke. A key moment, as Liverpool in effect settled the tie from their next attack.
The home side’s second was outstanding in its creation and execution. When Gakpo’s crossfield pass found its way to Salah the striker, in one movement, leapt into the air and cushioned the ball into the run of Szoboszlai on the volley. The Hungary captain did not break stride and lashed an emphatic first-time drive past Steele.
Salah won and converted the penalty that brought Liverpool their third. There was a glimpse of the Salah of old as he turned Kadioglu and powered past the left-back into the box, where he was dragged back by Pascal Gross. Stuart Attwell immediately pointed to the spot and the Egypt international gave Steele no chance with a blistering penalty kick.
“Moments decided the game, unfortunately in the wrong direction,” said Hürzeler. “Liverpool had the quality to use their chances. We were not able to be that effective.”
