Liverpool

Absolutely outstanding’… Jamie Carragher thought £35m Liverpool man was incredible against Brighton

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9 months ago

March 31, 2024

‘Absolutely outstanding’… Jamie Carragher thought £35m Liverpool man was incredible against Brighton

Jamie Carragher was left blown away by one Liverpool performance against Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield today.

Jurgen Klopp went into the game knowing that there was no margin for error, he needed his Liverpool players to do their job before Manchester City hosted Arsenal.

And with that in mind, Danny Welbeck’s early strike was less than ideal.

A moment of class meant it was going to be an uphill struggle for Liverpool against an impressive Roberto De Zerbi side.

Simon Adingra stood out in particular, perhaps a player Liverpool could show interest in were De Zerbi chosen as Klopp’s replacement.

And whilst that’s all very hypothetical for now, there was also an outstanding display by one player in a Liverpool shirt today.

Luis Diaz certainly deserves his praise for tirelessly inspiring the comeback, but it was Alexis Mac Allister who ultimately decided the game.

The £35m-midfielder was exceptional playing in the pocket, and was at the heart of everything Liverpool did well.

Jamie Carragher amazed by Alexis Mac Allister’s Liverpool performance against Brighton today
Speaking during Sky Sports’ coverage of the game, Jamie Carragher was almost lost for words at how good Mac Allister was for Liverpool against Brighton today.

Carragher thought everything was going through the Argentinian, who was so key to the vital comeback.

Praising Mac Allister in the first half, he said: “Again that combination, Mac Allister to Mo Salah, Mac Allister has been absolutely outstanding in these first 39 minutes – best player on the pitch.”

Carragher then commented on the 25-year-old’s assist for Mohamed Salah’s goal.

He said: “Mo Salah has took till the 65th minute to find his shooting boots and what a relief it is to those people he’s saluting.

“But again, this is all down to that man Mac Allister, he’s been the best player on the pitch by a mile.

“When the game has been frantic, he’s been the man with the cool head.”

A brilliant display, and one that proved how vital Wataru Endo’s role in the team has been as well, allowing Mac Allister to play higher up the pitch today.

Carragher seemed to recognise very early on that Mac Allister would be the key for Liverpool against his old sign Brighton today, and he was certainly proved correct.

All that being said, Ian Wright wasn’t so convinced about a different performance.

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‘Huge boos…’ – Many Liverpool fans were apoplectic at one man during first half v Brighton
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Posted by Liam Togher11 minutes ago
‘Huge boos…’ – Many Liverpool fans were apoplectic at one man during first half v Brighton
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It’s fair to say that Liverpool fans at Anfield were far from pleased with one man in particular during the first half against Brighton this afternoon.

The teams were level at 1-1 going in at half-time, and while neither goal was controversial, a series of soft free kicks given against the home team had almost 60,000 Reds inside the stadium fuming at David Coote.

In the Liverpool Echo’s live matchday blog (14:53), it was noted that there were ‘huge boos’ for the official as the teams made their way off at half-time, with Ian Doyle adding: “It must be said the referee, though, is having an absolute shocker. [Jurgen] Klopp certainly won’t miss David Coote when he leaves Liverpool at the end of the season.”

READ MORE: (Video) Luis Diaz shows expert goal-poaching instincts to draw Liverpool level v Brighton

READ MORE: (Video) Roy Keane shares candid verdict on whether De Zerbi would be right for Liverpool

Liverpool fans won’t be surprised in the least to see the free kick count at half-time – 11 to Brighton, just four for the Reds (Sofascore), with the visitors getting a series of charitable fouls given in their favour.

Coote also saw fit to show Alexis Mac Allister a yellow card for a foul on Simon Adingra which was soft, to put it mildly, and there was also a penalty shout when Pervis Estupinan impeded Darwin Nunez in the box in the opening minutes at Anfield.

FOLLOW Empire of the Kop on Instagram (@empireofthekop) HERE

Referees will always give debatable free kicks over the course of a match, but there was definitely a disproportionately high number of decisions called against the Reds which ranged from harsh to downright inexplicable.

As Doyle said during his half-time analysis, Klopp certainly won’t be sorry to see the back of some officials in the Premier League.

🚨 EOTK Insider with Jan Age Fjortoft: Why Alonso said no to LFC, who will replace Klopp now? The PL winners will be…

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Luis Diaz stars in routine Liverpool victory over Brighton to keep pressure on Manchester City
Jim White
AT THE AMEX and
Harri Thomas,
LIVE UPDATES
12 March 2022 • 4:19pm

Diaz heads in Liverpool’s opener before clashing with Brighton’s Sanchez
Salah makes it two from the penalty spot after Bissouma’s handball
Liverpool return to three points behind Manchester City
As wins go, this could not have been more routine for Liverpool. Acting as the perfect hosts, Brighton tested their visitors with just the one shot on target all game. This was Graham Potter’s side’s fifth successive league defeat. More to the point, in that sequence they have scored just once.

“It’s not easy to have perspective on the back of the run we’re on,” said Potter. “At the moment we’re suffering. But it’s not like we’re sat at the bottom of the league five points adrift.”

While they may be comfortably safe from relegation, his team’s role increasingly seems to be to offer top four managers the opportunity to make patronising remarks even as they bank three points. As Jurgen Klopp duly demonstrated.

“I like Graham a lot, I hope the people here know what they have,” the Liverpool manager said. “Real football people recognise what he has done. I like watching his team, I don’t like playing them.”

Not that it looked as if he were in any discomfort: Liverpool were in charge for all but ten minutes of this game. And while Brighton struggled to find the net, goals are a very different matter for Klopp’s players. As they scored in each half to record their eighth win on the trot, they notched up a couple of notable statistical landmarks.

Their second strike, for instance, was the club’s 2,000th Premier League goal. And, in scoring it, Mohamed Salah, recorded his twentieth league goal for the fourth successive season. How Brighton’s fans must have watched on in envy wondering how their side might fare with a striker of his calibre. Well, any striker actually.

It was not that Brighton began badly. Playing in their yellow and blue change strip as a gesture of solidarity with Ukraine they started as brightly as their shirts. In the opening moments, the busy Tariq Lamptey found Neal Maupay, who misdirected his header over. Maupay then shot just wide, before playing in Leandro Trossard who seemed to have space to shoot, but Alisson slid in to smother.

The difference between the sides is that from anywhere and everywhere, danger always lurks with Liverpool. As when, after 19 minutes, Joel Matip took possession in his own half and strode forward without any Brighton players sensing his threat. As his long ball arced precisely into the area, Luis Diaz dashed in and bravely headed it goalwards.

Despite the looming proximity of the Brighton keeper Robert Sanchez, his touch was both subtle and accurate. Even as the ball arrowed into the net, Sanchez’s follow-through flattened him. Mike Dean, however, could see nothing wrong with the challenge. And, much to Klopp’s confusion, Var did not feel there was a clear and obvious error in the referee’s assessment.

Luis Diaz manages to get his head to the ball and score the opening goal before clashing with Robert Sanchez CREDIT: Charlotte Wilson/Offside
“Most of the people think it was a red card,” he said. “For what reason could it not be a red card? The phrase ‘clear and obvious’ is the problem. Surely it is either wrong or right.”

Whatever the niceties of the video referee, of this there can be no doubt: what a player Diaz is proving to be. Quick, skillful, dynamic, his all round quality was in evidence when he got up from his knock to track down and dispossess Lamptey, who is not exactly slow.

“He’s a very good player,” said Klopp of his January signing. “It is not so easy to bring in a player in winter, but the way Luis plays is exactly the way we wanted him to play, so he did not have to adapt. I don’t think we’ve seen already the full range of his skills. There is a lot of space for improvement.”

Which is an alarming prospect for the rest of the League. And while Diaz may have been the exemplar, everywhere Liverpool assumed ascendancy. Virgil van Dijk won every header, Jordan Henderson every tackle. And the two full backs enjoyed themselves hugely. Indeed, with a magnificent crossfield pass, Trent Alexander-Arnold found Andrew Robertson alone on the edge of the area. But he fired over.

As they forlornly chased the game, the experience of Adam Lallana seemed to sum up Brighton’s fortune. The former Liverpool man came on at half time and lasted all of five minutes, substituted himself after suffering a hamstring problem.

Liverpool, meanwhile, cruised on. Salah danced through and hit the bar. Then shot wide after Dias had galloped half the length of the pitch to set him up. If the striker feared that this might not be the game he reached his personal milestone, he did not have to worry long. Moments later, Naby Keita’s shot hit Yves Bissouma on his raised arm. Dean immediately signaled for a penalty and Salah does not miss from the spot.

Mohamed Salah scores Liverpool’s second from the penalty spot CREDIT: PA
The difference between the two teams’ resources was summed up when Salah later went down injured and Klopp could send on Diogo Jota. No such luxury for Potter. And for Brighton’s increasingly unhappy fans all there was left was the might-have-been. They screamed in fury when the referee refused to accept that Alisson had carried the ball outside his area, then had to watch the Liverpool keeper pull off a brilliant save to deny the substitute Danny Welbeck. So Liverpool continue to close in on Manchester City. While at Brighton the sole consolation seems to be that every other manager thinks their boss is doing a great job.

Brighton vs Liverpool, as it happened:
3:12PM
That’s all from the lunchtime kick-off
Thanks for joining us this afternoon. There’s only one 3pm kick-off today: Brentford vs Burnley. Currently 0-0 there.

We’ll have coverage later from the battle for fourth place as Manchester United host Tottenham. That kicks off at 5:30pm.

2:55PM
It’s the fourth season that Salah has reached the 20 goal mark

158 – In @LFC’s Premier League history, only Steven Gerrard (212 – 120 goals, 92 assists) has had a direct hand in more goals for the club than Mohamed Salah (158 – 115 goals, 43 assists), moving level with Robbie Fowler. Icons. pic.twitter.com/S0Rei46XjR

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 12, 2022
2:27PM
Full-time: Brighton 0-2 Liverpool
A great all-round performance by January signing Luis Diaz this afternoon. He showed bravery with his headed effort for his first goal and looked threatening in possession throughout.

Liverpool looked very comfortable. Routine stuff as they keep the pressure on Manchester City, going three points behind them with the same number of games played.

Brighton are struggling after a solid first three months of the season. They’re now on a five match losing streak and have won just two league games in 2022.

2:22PM
90+3 mins
Another good run by Diaz up the left – he’s looked very comfortable in possession this afternoon. He gets his shot away, but it’s saved by Sanchez and earns a corner.

2:21PM
90 mins
Five minutes of added time to come.

2:20PM
90+2 mins
Alisson quickly off his line, decisive to dive down ahead of Trossard with the ball rolled in from the right.

2:19PM
90 mins
Luis Diaz one-on-one with Sanchez as Liverpool counter, but he’s denied.

He probably could’ve squared it across to Jota there, but fancied it himself.

2:18PM
89 mins
March takes on Matip down the left; he earns a corner. Trossard to Cucurella, again down the left…

The cross comes in from the left and Danny Welbeck gets his shot away. It looks like van Dijk gets a touch to deflect it, but it needed a strong save from Alisson – and he delivered.

2:14PM
85 mins – Liverpool sub
Henderson off; Milner on.

2:14PM
83 mins
Robertson tries to pull the ball back, left side of the box. He’s looking for Mane, but it’s behind him. Brighton pounce.

Brighton counter, but Fabinho shuts it down and gets himself a yellow for his foul.

2:11PM
82 mins
Van Dijk concedes a free kick, on the half-way line.

It looks like James Milner is going to come on in a moment.

2:10PM
80 mins
Very stop-start this second half.

Maupay the latest to stop play. He gets a yellow for diving in late into Alisson as the Liverpool keeper clears.

2:08PM
79 mins
A couple of Brighton corners in fairly quick succession, both on their left hand side.

Brighton haven’t got a huge amount of height in their team and both come to nothing.

2:04PM
75 mins
Mac Allister hacks down Jota, just into the Brighton half, to go into Mike Dean’s book.

2:03PM
74 mins
Excellent dummy by Mane to allow AA to surge down the right.

It’s smashed out and Liverpool earn the throw.

1:59PM
70 mins
AA corner, on the right. An out-swinger.

In towards Jota and Matip, middle of the box, but Brighton clear.

1:58PM
68 mins
Brighton have a brief foray forward. Lamptey tries to feed a cross into the four Brighton players in the box, but he’s pulled it behind all of them and it rolls all the way out for a Liverpool throw on the right.

1:55PM
66 mins – final Brighton sub

66′: Final sub for Albion: Danny Welbeck’s on for Yves Bissouma. 🔁

[0-2] 📲 https://t.co/S3j1TIedJv ✘ #BHAFC 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/qUNdBmkZVm

— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) March 12, 2022
1:54PM
Salah’s penalty

He was never going to miss, was he!? 🎯

Mo Salah smashes the ball home from the penalty spot to double Liverpool’s advantage ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/1y1MWCtV32

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 12, 2022
1:52PM
64 mins – double sub for Liverpool
Thiago on; Keita off.

Jota on; Salah off.

1:52PM
61 mins
Alisson has come out the box as he collects. But Mike Dean says he didn’t carry out, even though the Liverpool keeper’s body is definitely outside the box. Probably the right decision there.

1:49PM
60 mins GOAL Brighton 0-2 Liverpool
Mo Salah! He fires the penalty straight down the middle; Sanchez dives to his left.

That’s Liverpool’s 2000th Premier League goal.

1:48PM
59 mins
Liverpool penalty.

A handball by Bissouma.

1:47PM
57 mins
Salah misses another chance!

Diaz with a wonderful run, with the ball, away from Mac Allister, half the pitch.

He plays a great squared ball to the Egyptian, but he drags it wide, without hitting it with any real conviction.

1:45PM
56 mins
Salah with a looping shot, inside the Brighton box, after the Seagulls fail to clear. It’s a deflected shot which spins over Sanchez and hits the crossbar, before falling to Mane, who lashes the ball over the bar.

1:44PM
54 mins
Keita is caught in possession by Bissouma, wonderful closing down from behind. But Mike Dean says his foot is too high and awards Liverpool a free kick. Bissouma’s not happy. He’s booked – the first of the afternoon – for throwing the ball away.

1:40PM
52 mins – Brighton substitute
Lallana off; Gross on.

1:40PM
50 mins
Adam Lallana has gone down here. He’s barely been on five minutes. It looks like he’s coming off.

1:39PM
49 mins
A wasted throw-in by Brighton up the right side. It’s thrown behind the Liverpool goal line after a promising period of build-up from the hosts who’ve come out more lively in this second half.

1:37PM
46 mins
Trossard is in the open, but he blazes it over, inside the Liverpool box. He should have done far better there!

But it looks like Maupay nudged the ball on with his arm in the build-up anyway.

1:33PM
Second half begins!
One sub for Brighton: Lallana is on, Alzata is off.

1:31PM
Sanchez got none of the ball here… but no booking given
1:22PM
Brave man Luis Diaz – and a terrific pass from Matip

Luis Diaz opens the scoring after an incredible pass from Joël Matip! 🔥

Despite being taken out by Robert Sánchez the Liverpool forward is ok to carry on 🙏 pic.twitter.com/Vka83JoN2X

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 12, 2022
1:21PM
Half-time: Brighton 0-1 Liverpool
Brighton came out sharp and lively, with a handful of chances in the first 15 minutes. They lacked the final finish though, and it allowed the Liverpool machine to get started.

Since the Luis Diaz goal it’s been all Liverpool. Plenty of chances for the visitors and it could’ve been one or two more.

1:17PM
45+1 mins
Salah is played in down the right channel, in plenty of space.

He tries to pull back to Diaz and Mane, but it’s cleared out for a throw on the right.

1:16PM
45 mins
Two minutes of added time to come.

1:15PM
42 mins
Liverpool hit the Seagulls on the counter, Mo Salah running a good length of the pi

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Absolutely outstanding’… Jamie Carragher thought £35m Liverpool man was incredible against Brighton

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Absolutely outstanding’… Jamie Carragher thought £35m Liverpool man was incredible against Brighton

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Absolutely outstanding’… Jamie Carragher thought £35m Liverpool man was incredible against Brighton

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