Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 Liverpool: Late Mitoma Strike Sinks Reds
Mitoma #Mitoma
Liverpool were knocked out of the FA Cup after losing to Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday afternoon.
Liverpool travelled down to the AMEX Stadium for the second time in just over two weeks to play Brighton & Hove Albion in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Two weeks ago, Liverpool were on the receiving end of a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of the Seagulls. Jurgen Klopp hoped for a different outcome this time round, as the manager labelled a very strong team.
Klopp made just one change from his side’s goalless stalemate against Chelsea last week, bringing in Trent Alexander-Arnold for James Milner at right-back. Alisson kept his position in between the sticks despite being a cup fixture.
Liverpool started the game with energy and vigour, something they’ve lacked for the most part of this season. The Reds’ high intensity paid off when Harvey Elliott converted well to slot Liverpool into a 1-0 lead.
The hosts found an equaliser shortly after when Tariq Lamptey’s ambitious effort was accidentally turned goalwards by Lewis Dunk’s outstretched foot. They all count – flukey, but a deserved leveller for Brighton & Hove Albion.
One-a-piece would be the score heading into the tunnel for half-time, after an evenly-matched first half of football. Liverpool felt like they had a point to prove after a string of poor results to start 2023.
In what felt like a reckless period towards the end of the game, Ibrahima Konate and Fabinho were lucky to avoid red cards after cynical and cringe-worthy tackles. Andy Robertson also escaped more severe punishment after leaving Alexis Mac Allister grounded with a hopeless challenge.
A much-spirited performance and indications Liverpool were taking small steps in the right direction would ultimately be clouded over as Kaoru Mitoma scored the winner after controlling the ball with precision before lifting it above Alisson.
Liverpool are improving from their 3-0 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion, although it would have been impressive if they performed any worse than that, but they’re ultimately out of the FA Cup. A competition they won less than nine months ago.
Now, for Liverpool, doing everything possible to finish in the top four and impressing in the UEFA Champions League is left. Next up is Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux, kick-off at 3pm on Saturday, 4 February.
At the end of the storm, there’s a golden sky.
Brighton & Hove Albion starting XI: Steele, Lamptey (Van Hecke 90+6′), Webster (Veltman 46′), Dunk, Estupinan, Gross, Mac Allister, March, Welbeck (Gilmour 67′), Mitoma, Ferguson (Undav 89′).
Liverpool starting XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold (Milner 59′), Konate, Gomez, Robertson, Thiago (Jones 79′), Bajcetic (Fabinho 84′), Keita (Henderson 59′), Salah, Gakpo, Elliott (Nunez 59′).
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