Salah's stunner completes turnaround as Liverpool go top

A second-half comeback from Liverpool saw them return to the Premier League summit with a 2-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield.

Ferdi Kadioglu's eye-catching 14th-minute strike handed the visitors the lead on Saturday, but Brighton were unable to make their chances count in a dominant first half.

Cody Gakpo, scorer of two goals against the Seagulls in the EFL Cup in midweek, restored parity in the 69th minute when his cross narrowly evaded Darwin Nunez and nestled into the corner.

And the turnaround was complete three minutes later when Mohamed Salah curled a trademark left-footed finish beyond Bart Verbruggen.

With Arsenal and Manchester City losing, Liverpool are top of the pile on 25 points, two clear of their nearest challengers after the opening 10 games, while Brighton are seventh.

How the match unfolded

Nunez was denied a stunning solo goal after flicking the ball over Joel Veltman and shrugging of Kadioglu’s challenge, only to see his effort tipped behind by Verbruggen’s outstretched left glove.

However, a bolt from the blue saw Brighton take the lead, with Kadioglu notching his first Seagulls goal with a stunning strike that cannoned in off the post.

Liverpool’s search for an equaliser was met with a flurry of saves from Verbruggen, who denied Alexis Mac Allister a goal against his former club, with Brighton having earlier gone close through Georginio Rutter and Danny Welbeck.

But two goals in just 128 seconds turned the match on its head, with Gakpo’s attempted cross going all the way through to draw the Reds level.

Salah then powered Arne Slot’s side in front, capping off a sweeping move as Liverpool turned defence into attack. Curtis Jones supplied the pass out to the Egyptian, who set himself on his stronger foot and bent a sublime effort into the left-hand corner to delight the Anfield faithful and send the Reds top.

It was a landmark goal for Salah too, as he scored his 164th Premier League goal which moves him into eighth place in the all-time top goalscorers list in the competition.

Slot’s comeback kings

Liverpool made a name of being the comeback kings under Jurgen Klopp, but their inspired second-half turnaround proved Slot has mastered those powers of recovery too.

After a dismal opening 45 minutes that saw Brighton dominate for large parts, a return to the ruthless attacking displays that have been on show for much of the season eventually emerged after the restart.

Mac Allister’s header, that was saved by Verbruggen, was a sign of their intent, while Virgil van Dijk squandered a golden chance moments later after being picked out by Trent Alexander-Arnold’s delivery - the Dutchman unable to find the desired connection.

Luis Diaz’s introduction provided the spark that was missing in the final third, and his impact helped pave the way for Gakpo and Salah to take centre stage.

Slot’s latest result could be his biggest, given the results around them, though there were worrying signs that he will look to rectify before Liverpool welcome former favourite Xabi Alonso and Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Champions League next week.

Seagulls left to lament profligacy

At one point Brighton looked destined to end the day inside the top four, but their inability to put away their chances proved costly.

Kadioglu should have doubled his tally when he fired over from close range, while Rutter was denied one-on-one by Caoimhin Kelleher.

Welbeck then curled a free-kick just wide shortly before the break. Against another side Brighton may have got away with their wastefulness, but the Reds’ ruthless streak eventually shone through.

Verbruggen was on hand to deny Salah’s attempted flick early in the second half after the Liverpool star was played through by Nunez, but he was powerless in stopping the two goals that won the game for the hosts.

While still in the infancy of his tenure, this was Fabian Hurzeler’s first Anfield experience. He now knows the difficulty of winning there, but will take the positives from his side’s display when they welcome a wounded Pep Guardiola side to the Amex Stadium next Saturday.

Arne Slot: "They had a great game plan today as well and they have spent a lot of money in recent years to have that much quality. I'm not surprised that the first half was really difficult for us. The intensity was far below what I expect from our players.

"I was waiting for us to score the goal but we didn't - that's why I made the substitutions. Both of them came on really strong. Then you can say it's a bit of luck but the goalkeeper cannot react. The second goal was a Mo Salah special. It's not the first and not the last time he will score from that position."

Fabian Hurzeler: "There was a big chance today. If we score the second goal, or we could have even got a third or fourth, in the first half then it is a different game. Then of course they have individual quality. They scored out of nowhere with a cross, they scored with a shot from outside the box. In this league there are top quality players.

"We have to be at the maximum and today we were not for 90 minutes. Then you can't win the game."

Liverpool report | Brighton report

Liverpool have now won eight of their 10 Premier League matches under Slot, the most ever by a Reds manager in his first 10 top-flight matches in charge of the club.

This was only the second time since the start of 2021/22 that Brighton lost a Premier League match in which they led at half-time in 40 such instances (W30 D8), alongside a 2-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur in February last season.

Salah has 10 goals and six assists in the Premier League against Brighton, the most any player has against them in the division. Since the Seagulls joined the competition in 2017, only Salah himself versus Manchester United (18) has more goal involvements against a single opponent in the competition.

Welbeck has scored (three) or assisted (one) a goal in four successive Premier League appearances for only the second time in his 343-game career in the competition, also doing so in November 2010 for Sunderland.