Dunk cancels out Salah double as Brighton and Liverpool share spoils
Brighton recently became the first PL team this century to both score and concede 20+ goals in their opening 10 matches of a campaign in all competitions.
With that in mind, the open start to proceedings was to be expected, and after a few half-chances, it was the hosts who seized upon a Liverpool error to take the lead.
A poorly-executed exchange between Virgil van Dijk and former Seagull Alexis Mac Allister allowed Simon Adingra to steal the ball high up the field and catch out Alisson with an early strike.
With HT fast approaching, the visitors had created precious little, yet in the blink of an eye, Liverpool were ahead.
First, an incisive attack ended with Harvey Elliott leaving Darwin Núñez’s lay-off to allow Mohamed Salah to stroke home.
Then, just four minutes later, Salah had a brace when he fired in from the spot following a Pascal Groß foul on Dominik Szoboszlai.
That late first-half flurry from Jürgen Klopp’s side means that both teams have scored in 14 of Brighton’s last 15 matches - a somewhat concerning statistic for Roberto De Zerbi on his 50th game in charge.
The hosts’ strengths clearly lie in attack, and after the restart, Adingra looked to make up for their defensive shortcomings, forcing Alisson into a near-post stop.
Liverpool then had a golden opportunity to establish a two-goal lead before the hour mark, but with the goal at his mercy, Ryan Gravenberch could only direct Szoboszlai’s cut-back onto the crossbar.
Brighton penalty appeals were waved away leaving De Zerbi irate on the touchline, but the Italian would soon have something to celebrate as the hosts restored parity. Solly March's set-piece delivery was met by captain Lewis Dunk, who profited from Andrew Robertson’s hesitation to set up a dramatic final 10 minutes.
João Pedro skied a magnificent opportunity to claim all three points as ultimately, both sides were made to settle for a point.
It’s a somewhat unsatisfactory result for Liverpool as they aim to rebuild some momentum following the “significant human error” fiasco of last weekend.
Meanwhile, Brighton avoid back-to-back PL losses for the first time this calendar year, remaining sixth in the league table as a result.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Simon Adingra (Brighton & Hove Albion)
