Mohamed Salah scored a vital winner as Liverpool overcame a significant Brighton challenge to win 2-1 and kick-start the title run-in by sending a message to rivals Manchester City and Arsenal.
Rather than benefit from not playing for Egypt during the international break, Salah appeared to have suffered from it as it took him almost an hour to find his usual sharpness.
Indeed, it was his slack pass which allowed Brighton to take a shock lead inside 90 seconds through Danny Welbeck.
But, having wasted a number of opportunities in the first half, he delivered when it mattered most, guiding home a shot from Alexis Mac Allister’s 65th-minute through-ball.
It was his 22nd of the season – and ninth in 15 appearances against the Seagulls – and one of the most important of the campaign considering the context of the day, with City and Arsenal playing each other.
He could have made the game safe in a two-on-one with Luis Diaz, scorer of a first-half equaliser, but once again shot straight at goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen as he reverted to his uncharacteristic first-half form.
Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi, whose own contract situation is up in the air, is now the bookmakers’ second favourite to succeed Jurgen Klopp following Xabi Alonso’s withdrawal from the race and the way his side approached the game provided an impressive audition for the Anfield hierarchy.
They were bold and creative and the fact Klopp’s side were grateful for the final whistle after six additional minutes showed how hard they pushed their hosts.
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