Brighton dumped holders Liverpool out of the FA Cup thanks to an injury-time goal from Karou Mitoma at the Amex Stadium on Sunday evening.
Harvey Elliot’s 30th-minute strike had given Liverpool the lead before Lewis Dunk’s deflected goal from Tariq Lamptey’s strike restored parity nine minutes later.
Consecutive wins for Brighton
This was Brighton’s second consecutive win over Liverpool following their 3-0 triumph over the Reds in the Premier League two weeks back.
Both teams started the match in a typical cup-tie fashion with end-to-end stuff. Given Liverpool’s recent struggles, Brighton was billed as the pre-match favorites.
The Seagulls have been in fine form in the Premier League, sitting sixth in the standings. It was Jurgen Klopp’s side, however, who looked the better of the two sides, and Mohammed Salah should have given his side the lead in the 25th minute.
The Egyptian forward dragged his shot inches wide after Elliott threaded Salah through with an inch-perfect pass.
Salah, however, redeemed himself five minutes later, turning provider to Elliot with a lovely, weighted pass from the right wing.
The 19-year-old Elliot placed his first time shot on goal, which hit the outstretched hand of Brighton keeper Jason Steele before rolling into the back of the net.
However, Roberto De Zerbi’s side kept their heads and soon levelled in the 39th minute. Following a left-wing corner, Lamptey squared his shot that was going well wide before Dunk got an unlikely deflection that wrongfooted Liverpool keeper Alisson Becker in goal to make it 1-1 heading into half-time.
Brighton came out the better of the two sides after the restart and should have taken the lead in the 55th minute.
Solly March chested down a ball after some fine work from Mitouma, but Pascal Gross couldn’t keep his shot down and slapped his effort well over the bar for the chance to go begging.
Alisson then denied March from just eight yards in the 71st minute with a stunning reflex save that rebounded off the Brighton wingback on its way out.
Mitoma turns in a winning performance.
However, it was Mitoma who got the winning goal for Brighton in the 92nd minute with a stunning effort.
Pervis Estupinan’s cross from the far post was well controlled by the Japanese forward before lobbing the ball over Joe Gomez to flick his volley past Alisson.
VAR was consulted to rule out any offside from the buildup, and the goal stood, sending the home fans into a frenzy.
For Liverpool, though, their season is going south. The Reds are out of the FA Cup and sit 9th in the Premier League standings, 10 points off a Champions League berth and Klopp must fix the issues with his sides before they take on holders Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League in two weeks.
After the game, Liverpool defender Andy Robertson said, “It’s bitterly disappointing. I thought it was a proper cup tie – end to end, both teams had chances. Today we were slightly better than two weeks ago, but we’re out of the cup at the end of the day; it’s so disappointing.”
Photo credit IMAGO / Pro Sports Images
