Brighton 1-5 Liverpool: Premier League highlights and recap

Liverpool beat Brighton 5-1 at the Amex Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 2. Here are all the highlights from the Premier League match.

Liverpool, lining up in a heavily rotated team with a back three featuring Emre Can and Georginio Wijnaldum, beat Brighton 5-1 at the Amex Stadium on Saturday. Can and Roberto Firmino gave the Reds a 2-0 lead at halftime, and goals by Firmino and Philippe Coutinho, and a Lewis Dunk own goal, put the result beyond doubt in the second half.

Liverpool struggled to create clear-cut chances early on, despite dominating possession, but took the lead from a set piece, as Can headed in Philippe Coutinho’s out-swinging corner in the 30th minute. The Reds doubled their lead two minutes later, Firmino finishing at the back post following another first-time pass from Coutinho.

While Jurgen Klopp’s side had dominated possession, the first goal hadn’t seemed likely. But as Liverpool have shown time and again, they’re devastating on the counter-attack, and with Brighton forced to commit more numbers forward after Can’s finish, Firmino, Coutinho and Mohamed Salah came to life.

Liverpool’s third, scored shortly after the restart, capped an extraordinary play that began with a stunning save from Simon Mignolet at one end and finished with Firmino scoring at the other.
Glenn Murray, unmarked in the six-yard box, saw his shot saved by Mignolet. Following the stop, Coutinho played the ball to Mohamed Salah, who carried the ball half the length of the pitch before playing in Firmino to finish.

Brighton got back into the game almost immediately after, however, when the referee awarded a penalty for Jordan Henderson’s push on Shane Duffy. The decision seemed soft, but Henderson did stick out his arm as Duffy jumped for the ball. Murray finished the penalty emphatically into the top right corner.

After a decent spell of Brighton pressure, during which time Murray missed a couple more presentable chances, the Reds ran up the score with a late flurry. First, Coutinho scored a smart free-kick, which he rolled under the wall from 30 yards, before Lewis Dunk deflected into his own net to make 5-1.

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Highlights

Liverpool moved up to fourth in the table, but could fall down to fifth again depending on Arsenal’s result against Manchester United later in the day. Brighton moved down one place, to 11th.