March and Welbeck help Brighton breeze past sorry Liverpool
More injury problems fell Jürgen Klopp’s way ahead of this contest, with Darwin Núñez ruled out of this contest as well as Virgil van Dijk. As has become the pattern of late though, his side were ineffective in midfield and surrendered control and possession to the Seagulls.
Chances flowed for the hosts as they cut through at will, with Trent Alexander-Arnold on hand to deny Solly March an opener.
Alexis Mac Allister, Kaoru Mitoma and Evan Ferguson all squandered efforts to break the deadlock before the break. VAR was also on hand to give Liverpool a reprieve, overturning the award of a penalty after Alisson felled March due to an offside in the build-up.
The Reds might have been lauded in recent years for their irrepressible attack, but they failed to register a single shot on target before HT.
After withstanding waves of pressure before the break, the visitors were completely undone upon the restart, conceding twice within the first eight minutes of the second half. Joël Matip was caught in possession in his own half and the Seagulls swooped, with Mitoma slotting in March for a tap-in.
The Reds’ implosion continued as Ferguson slotted in March to provide a glorious finish into the far corner, leaving Allison with no chance of stopping it.
The scale of the Reds’ injury woes were laid bare when in his efforts to change the game, Klopp could only turn to youngsters Ben Doak and Harvey Elliott in forward positions.
The latter had a huge chance to get his side back in it, but could only drag wide before Cody Gakpo’s effort was smothered by Robert Sánchez.
De Zerbi’s men responded in kind by putting the game firmly beyond Liverpool. A quick throw-in caught the Reds cold, before March fed Danny Welbeck to score his first PL goal of the season.
The former England man showed tremendous composure to hook the ball over Joe Gomez and slot beyond Alisson for a romping victory.
The Seagulls leapfrog Liverpool with the win, leaving Klopp’s men seven points adrift of the top four as pressure begins to grow.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Solly March (Brighton & Hove Albion)
