Verdict: De Zerbi showed Anfied his potential
Jurgen Klopp registered his 300th win in charge of Liverpool with an enthralling 2-1 victory over Roberto de Zerbi's Brighton to send them top of the Premier League.
Ahead of Manchester City's meeting with Arsenal, which ended in a goalless draw, the Reds had the chance to succeed both fellow title challengers at the summit, but did not enjoy the start they envisaged after falling behind within 87 first-half seconds at Anfield.
Plucky Brighton are deliberately bold in De Zerbi's mould, as proved by Simon Adingra, who flew down the left wing from kick off and fizzed a ball centrally towards Danny Welbeck. The forward benefitted from a ricochet off Pascal Gross, but there was no luck in the finish, as he lashed an instinctive volley inside the far post.
But Liverpool, embroiled in an intriguing three-way title hunt, were not to be denied. Luis Diaz found a response in the 27th minute to halt Brighton's early momentum, capitalising on some clumsy Joel Veltman defending to pounce from close range and steer the ball emphatically beyond Bart Verbruggen.
That began Liverpool's impressive road to recovery, as they abandoned their full-throttle first-half approach in favour of more measured, patient build up. It worked. Alexis Mac Allister, at the heart of everything good for the hosts against his former club, threaded a devilish pass through to Mo Salah in the 65th minute and the Egyptian struck the decisive blow.
"Mac Allister is such a smart footballer," Roy Keane reflected on Super Sunday. "I'm hugely impressed with him. Lovely first touch from Salah for the goal. It's sexy football."
Chances came and went to kill the game dead, particularly for misfiring Salah, who attempted a record 12 shots (his most in a single game), but a
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