Key events
Sam Cunningham went down to Sussex by the Sea, and here’s their report. Thanks for reading this MBM.
And deadly Danny has made his move up to fifth on the top scorers chart …
His opposite number Arne Slot gives TNT his verdict. “First half was an equal game … it was a big blow that Hugo [Ekitike] had to go off after one or two minutes … the second half Brighton were the better team … [Ekitike] going off and not being able to help the team is just a bit of bad luck … it is not like he will be out for three months but it is bad enough that he wasn’t able to continue … it is clear that we have lost a lot of points after playing in Europe … but today we also have to give credit to Brighton … what I thought was, you won’t need 24 points to qualify and hopefully I am right because we aren’t able to get 24 points anymore … as much as I dislike us losing here today, Brighton away has always been a difficult one … there are other games where we should have picked up more points, like last week against Tottenham, that is far more unacceptable than this … but even away at Brighton, a club like Liverpool should be able to get a result.”
Brighton boss Fabian Hürzeler talks to TNT Sports. “Intensity was the key … we created a lot of chances … especially in the second half … everyone tried to outrun and outwork their opponent … we managed the key moments better … we tried to stay calm … not to over-react … especially when we concede … I see a team working for each other … that’s very important to win Premier League games … [Danny Welbeck] creates a good togetherness … he is so helpful on and off the pitch … he can help any team in the world, including England … it is very important to stay humble … we stay doing these things and we will see what happens.”
Danny Welbeck talks to TNT Sports. “First and foremost it was a great team performance … everyone had to put in the hard yards … the way we fight for each other on the pitch … we’re a band of brothers … there’s invaluable experience there … we tried to come flying out of the traps … we had our game plan and played it well … I’m solely focused on being a number nine … building up my robustness … I feel good … I think there’s a lot more to come … Minteh has got incredible capabilities … with his pace, it’s frightening … he’s going to be a special player … I like to focus on the positives, so for my name to be mentioned [regarding England] is a good thing … I can only control what I can control … I enjoy my life and my football.”
He also enjoys receiving the Player of the Match award from TNT pundit Steven Gerrard! The pair enjoy a chuckle and a hug; Gerrard earlier stated unequivocally that Brighton deserved their win, so no hard feelings there. And while I did wonder whether Yankuba Minteh would get the award, there’s no arguing with a two-goal haul.
Post-match postbag o’pelters. “Jamie Carragher recently suggested that this Liverpool team aren’t a team. You only have to look at the goal celebrations. I’m a Man Utd fan and after they score they look generally ecstatic for the scorer and like they’re actual friends. Three is no similar feeling when Liverpool score. They act more like I do at work when I have to force a celebratory woohoo because Bob in finance successfully managed to propagate courgette. It’s good, but I don’t really care” – Topper
“At least LFC fans everywhere will always have the memory of destroying a truly bloody awful Galatasaray team in a stadium where the visitors had no support” – Al O’Neill
Minteh was superb, as were all of his team-mates, and Brighton fully deserved their win. They were impressive enough in the first half, but utterly dominant in the second. Liverpool by contrast were painfully poor: skittish in defence, almost non-existent in attack, reduced to a confused rabble by the end. They remain in fifth, and now have a fortnight to stew over this latest false dawn. Brighton go into the international break full of the joys of spring, with a European tour next season a very real prospect.
Yankuba Minteh – player of the match, surely – speaks to TNT Sports. “Before the game the coach told us, the only way we can win this game is with intensity … we stayed with that … we played as a team … everybody gave 100 percent … I’m happy … we keep going … we keep fighting like this … see where we are … if we keep playing like this, there’s a big hope that we can make it to Europe.”
FULL TIME: Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 Liverpool
Brighton’s European dream is alive and kicking after their fourth win in five games! Liverpool however won’t be qualifying for the Champions League if this showing is anything to go by. As dismal as Brighton were delightful.
90 min +6: Rutter has the chance to break into the Liverpool box down the left but miscontrols. Does it matter, though? This is all but over.
90 min +5: Chiesa thinks he’s won a corner down the right … but he hasn’t. Some performative complaining to the linesman, but that’s all Liverpool have left. They ran out of ideas long ago.
90 min +4: Ngumoha has been the one bright light for Liverpool, and he threatens to break down the left. He’s brought down in the Willie Young / Paul Allen 1980 FA Cup final style by Wieffer, who goes into the book. Szoboszlai takes the free kick, and loops it straight down Verbruggen’s throat.
90 min +3: Brighton have been magnificent, though. It’ll be four wins from five if they hold out.
90 min +2: Liverpool can barely get out of their final third. Yet another flaccid Premier League performance from Arne Slot’s side.
90 min +1: The first of six additional minutes sees yet another game of pinball break out around Liverpool’s punch-drunk defence, followed by Gomez being replaced by Veltman.
90 min: Ngumoha wins a corner down the left. Szoboszlai hangs it up generously for Verbruggen to claim. Then Chiesa is booked for a cynical tug on Kadioglu.
88 min: According to TNT Sports, Brighton have run five kilometres more than Liverpool today. Arne Slot would be wise not to cite the efforts against Galatasaray as a factor, because TNT also state that his side have been outrun by the opposition in 26 of their previous 30 fixtures. This is not an isolated incident.
87 min: The corner comes in from the left. Liverpool fail to clear it, and Ayari shoots low and hard. Jones blocks. A third goal wouldn’t flatter Brighton at all.
86 min: Gakpo probes down the left and whips a powerful curler towards the far corner. Verbruggen is behind it all the way. Brighton counter, and Kadioglu wins a corner off Mac Allister. On the touchline, Arne Slot looks defeated and deflated. And so do his team.
85 min: Ngumoha zips with purpose down the left, but Chiesa miscontrols his cutback. Goal kick. Dunk faffs around, and is booked for delaying the restart.
83 min: Rutter and Ayari come on for Hinshelwood and Welbeck.
82 min: Liverpool can’t get anything going at all. If they don’t somehow pull a rabbit from the hat, they’ll have picked up one point from the last nine available, against Wolves, Spurs and Brighton. It’s not exactly top-five form. Arne Slot’s coat hanging on an increasingly shoogly peg.
80 min: The xG tells its own story. Brighton 2.09, Liverpool 0.95. If anything, that stat flatters Liverpool. Meanwhile for those who favour the eye test, Robertson slices a dreadful cross out for a goal kick.
79 min: Liverpool have been hopeless in this second half, and their minds are increasingly frazzled as Brighton press for the killer third. Szoboszlai is booked for a cynical check on Mitoma.
77 min: Mitoma is immediately in the thick of it, twisting his way down the left and past Jones with absurd ease, cutting back for Hinshelwood, who should score but somehow kicks the ball backwards. Liverpool counter through Chiesa, who shoots from a tight angle on the left, his effort blocked well by Van Hecke.
76 min: Brighton also replace Milner with Baleba, while Liverpool hook Kerkez and the lumbering Konate. On come Chiesa and Robertson.
75 min: Minteh, who has caused Liverpool all sorts of bother, is replaced by Mitoma. “Liverpool play like they have pace all over the pitch,” begins Gary Naylor, setting himself up for the punchline: “Which is a problem, because they haven’t.”
73 min: Konate faffs around yet again, and is nearly stripped of possession by Welbeck. The pair fall in a tangled heap, mainly due to Konate slipping over, allowing Mamardashvili to claim. Brighton want a penalty, and you’ve seen them given, but not this time. This entry was brought to you by the Keystone Film Company.
71 min: Minteh gets the better of Konate again down the left. Konate really is having one of his days. He concedes a corner despite having been initially in charge of the situation. The set piece, needlessly conceded, leads to a game of slapstick pinball in the Liverpool area. The visitors are extremely fortunate that the ball doesn’t sit up nicely enough for any Brighton player to take a shot. Liverpool hanging on a bit here.
69 min: Mac Allister is booked for hauling down Van Hecke. And so is Fabian Hürzeler, for demanding the booking with an imaginary card.
68 min: Minteh steams into the Liverpool box down the left. He’s got Gomez in the middle, but takes the shot on himself instead. Straight at Mamardashvili.
67 min: Replays show that Welbeck’s second goal was right on the borderline of being offside. His arm was off, for sure. But you can’t score with that, so it doesn’t count. The rest of him: fine. All good! “Can we ask VAR to review the clear and obvious error that Thomas Tuchel has made in not calling Welbeck up to the England squad?” wonders Tim Talbot.
65 min: Szoboszlai sends the corner in from the left. Verbruggen nearly punches it into his own net. Another corner, this time from the right. Szoboszlai finds Mac Allister at the near post. The former Brighton midfielder heads harmlessly wide. He should have worked the keeper at the very least.
64 min: Ngumoha comes on for Frimpong. Then Jones aims a curler towards the bottom left. Verbruggen stretches to turn around the post. Great play all round.
63 min: Hinshelwood back-flicks the ball onto Gakpo’s arm in the Liverpool box. He claims a penalty but body position and proximity are Liverpool’s friends.
62 min: Gomez curls the free kick powerfully towards the far corner. Mamardashvili sticks out a strong arm to bat it away. Fine save.
61 min: Minteh sashays past Konate down the left with ease. His cutback is cleared, but Minteh is soon coming at them again, Konate wandering around in the confused fashion. He’s having one of those days. Frimpong is forced to bring Minteh down, and he goes into the book. A free kick coming up in a very dangerous position, just outside the Liverpool box, near the left-hand corner.
59 min: Hinshelwood sticks his studs on Jones’s shin. It’s late and Jones isn’t happy. VAR has a look, but takes the Not Enough In It For Me option.
57 min: There’s a lengthy VAR check. Was Welbeck ahead of the ball when Hinshelwood teed him up? The answer eventually comes: nope! Brighton lead again!
GOAL! Brighton 2-1 Liverpool (Welbeck 56)
… but they’re happy now! Minteh crosses deep from the left. Hinshelwood arrives at the far post and cushions a pass back across the face of goal. Welbeck is on point to turn the ball home! Simple as that. Liverpool’s defending woeful.
54 min: Szoboszlai dribbles across the face of goal and passes to Konate, who is fast asleep. Gross prepares to enter the box down the left, only for the whistle to go, Hinshelwood penalised harshly for sniffing around Szoboszlai as he made the pass. Brighton not happy.
