Call it a blip. Or a dip. Or a slump. Or a wobble. Whatever it was, it’s over.
Beaten in the Premier League by Manchester City and knocked out of the FA Cup by Wolves in the last nine days, Liverpool hauled their title challenge back on track and settled the nerves of their supporters with a hard-fought win over Brighton on the south coast.
They are seven points clear at the top again now, at least until Spurs play Manchester United on Sunday and City face Wolves on Monday.
Jurgen Klopp’s side was not at its most fluent but it was vital that they did not drop more points and they eked out their victory courtesy of another penalty won and converted by Mo Salah early in the second half.
Mohamed Salah stepped up to the penalty spot to smash the ball home and put Liverpool 1-0 ahead at the Amex Stadium
Salah had cut inside and danced his way into the area through defenders before being brought to ground by Pascal Gross
Referee Kevin Friend had no doubts about pointing to the spot as Liverpool players immediately appealed for the foul
Georginio Wijnaldum congratulated Salah for winning the pen, while Lewis Dunk looked deflated to see the error conceded
The Egyptian ran to the travelling Liverpool supporters behind the Brighton goal with his arms outstretched after scoring
Salah roared in celebration after breaking the deadlock while the away end erupted into joyous scenes
Captain Jordan Henderson joined the forward in celebrating and made his relief known that Liverpool had gone ahead
The goal meant a lot to the away supporters, who were desperate to see their side get back to winning ways in the league
Salah was soon mobbed by his Liverpool team-mates as supporters broke out into a chant for the Egyptian
Those who had been predicting a Liverpool collapse after their first league reverse of the season at City will be disappointed. Liverpool were under pressure going into this game and winning at Brighton is not easy but with Fabinho deputising for Dejan Lovren as a makeshift centre half, Liverpool stayed rock solid at the back.
That was the foundation of their victory even though the Brighton fans preferred to give the credit to referee Kevin Friend for his award of the penalty and a perceived bias towards the league leaders. ‘One-nil to the referee,’ they sang towards the end but Liverpool will not care. Their lead is seven points again. The ship has been steadied.
Before the game, Klopp had reacted with amusement to talk of a crisis because his team had suffered two successive defeats. Until the turn of the year, he pointed out, people had been telling him Liverpool had built an unassailable lead in the league. Now, they were saying his side were on the verge of collapse as they travelled to the Amex.
BRIGHTON: Button 6; Montoya 5, Dunk 6, Duffy 7, Bong 6.5; March 5 (Knockaert 65' 5), Gross 5 (Kayal 78' 6), Stephens 6, Propper 5, Locadia 5; Murray 5.5 (Andone 65' 5)
SUBS UNUSED: Saltor, Balogun, Steele, Sanders
BOOKED: None
LIVERPOOL: Alisson 6; Alexander-Arnold 6, Fabinho 7, Van Dijk 8, Robertson 7.5; Henderson 6.5, Wijnaldum 6; Shaqiri 6 (Milner 71' 6), Firmino 7.5, Mane 7 (Keita 88' 6); Salah 7.5 (Origi 90' 5).
SUBS UNUSED: Moreno, Mignolet, Matip, Camacho
GOAL: Salah 50 (pen)
BOOKED: None
REFEREE: Kevin Friend 6.5
