A stoppage-time penalty by Pascal Groß denied Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool the chance to seal all three points from their trip to the Amex. Diogo Jota’s goal had given the Merseysiders a much-deserved lead heading into the hour mark, but a further advantage to Klopp’s men was overturned by VAR.
Efforts from Mohammad Salah and Sadio Mane on either side of the two halves were deemed offside by VAR, preventing Liverpool FC from claiming an important victory away from home.
TEAM NEWS
A host of changes were seen in the Liverpool FC XI that took the field at the Amex, with Takumi Minamino and Nathan Phillps being handed starts, the latter making just his second top-flight appearance for the Reds.
Sadio Mane dropped down the bench to make way for Minamino, as Jordan Henderson also returned to the matchday squad for the first time since the international break.
MATCH PROCEEDINGS
Liverpool FC dominated the early proceedings to a much greater length as opposed to the hosts, who were often on the receiving end of a run-in-behind approach employed by the Reds frontline.
A brilliant ball in behind the Brighton defence from Fabinho led to Salah having a pop at the goal but the Egyptian’s effort was far off from troubling Matt Ryan.
However, Brighton too got an equally decisive chance to go in front, with Connelly in the vicinity to put his side on the front foot, only for him to miss the target.
But when a clumsy foul from Neco Williams handed the Seagulls an opportunity to take the lead from the resulting spot-kick, the Reds were seemingly looking sloppy in their work on the pitch.
Maupay fires the penalty wide!!!!! Massive relief for Neco Williams and #LFC
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) November 28, 2020
Neil Maupay’ effort from the penalty kick went wide off the goal and Liverpool FC once again sought to establish control over the affairs at the Amex.
A well-worked play between Salah and Firmino granted the former his name on the scoresheet but VAR adjudged the Liverpool FC star to be in an offside position, meaning that both teams went into the second half with the score still at nil-nil.
Jota, however, broke the deadlock when his finish ended up in the bottom corner of the Brighton goal, putting Klopp’s men in the advantage.
Fresh off the bench, Sadio Mane also had seemingly handed the visitors a well-deserved second goal of the afternoon, however, VAR had other plans for the Merseysiders.
A lengthy VAR check in the third minute of the stoppage time deemed Andy Roberton guilty of having fouled Brighton striker Danny Welback in the 18-yard box, leading to the hosts getting yet another chance to get back into the game and salvage a draw.
And this time, the Brighton spot-kick taker Pascal Groß did not waste away his effort on goal, slotting his strike into the middle of the net as the game finished 1-1 merely minutes after Groß’s equaliser.
