
BRIGHTON, United Kingdom (AFP) - Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp hailed his side's maturity as Premier League contenders after breaking down an obdurate Brighton thanks to Mohamed Salah's 50th-minute penalty in a 1-0 win on Saturday (Jan 12).
Klopp's men had lost their last two games in very contrasting fashion as Manchester City inflicted Liverpool's only Premier League defeat of the campaign nine days ago before a much-changed side lost in the FA Cup to Wolves.
Liverpool were far from their fluent best on England's south coast, but ground out a vital win to move seven points clear of City at the top of the table thanks to a 13th clean sheet in 22 league games this season.
"The headline before the game was 'be ready', the headline after the game is 'very mature'," said Klopp.
"It's so important. On the good days everybody can win; on average days not a lot of teams can win football games and, on a bad day, only a few can win.
"Today was not a bad day but it was a difficult day because Brighton is doing really well."
Salah was just one a number of first-team regulars to return from Monday's defeat by Wolves, but the Egyptian and the rest of Liverpool's forward line were starved of service before the break as Brighton sat deep and the visitors dominated possession without any cutting edge.
"It was very hard but that is how it is," added Klopp.
"I liked the performance. It wasn't an opera of football but it was a really nice song."
SALAH'S SIGNAL OF INTENT
Salah immediately signalled a change in Liverpool's intent after half-time as his powerful shot at the end of a purposeful run was well saved by David Button.
Brighton, though, were architects of their own downfall moments later. Salah was given too much room inside the area to turn and Pascal Gross then hauled down last season's Premier League player of the year.
"I feel for Pascal because Mo Salah is probably the most dangerous player once he gets in those positions one on one," said Brighton boss Chris Hughton, who had no complaints over the penalty award.
Salah stepped up to blast the penalty past Button and move level with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Harry Kane as the league's top-scorer on 14 goals for the season.
One moment of madness from Gross undid Hughton's gameplan to defend and frustrate the league leaders.
Yet, the German midfielder had a chance to make amends almost immediately with Brighton's best opportunity to level, but his shot was bravely blocked by Fabinho.
From then on Liverpool looked more likely to add to their lead than concede as Firmino's fierce strike from outside the box was placed too close to Button before Georginio Wijnaldum and Sadio Mane fired wide.
Salah passed up a glorious chance two minutes from time when he turned James Milner's driven cross wide from point-blank range.
That could have proved costly when Florin Andone escaped in behind the Liverpool defence in stoppage time, but his low cross found no takers.
And Liverpool held out to ensure a largely forgettable 90 minutes could be remembered as another important step on course to the title come May.

MADRID (AFP) - A Spanish court on Wednesday (April 24) acquitted former Barcelona club president Sandro Rosell, who spent nearly two years in pre-trial custody, of money laundering.. Read more at
Spain court acquits former Barcelona president of money

"Maurizio Sarri has been charged with misconduct in relation to his behaviour in the 94th minute of Monday's Premier League fixture between Chelsea and Burnley," the FA said in a statement
Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri charged by FA for behaviour

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola predicts his side will "suffer" against fourth-tier Newport County in their FA Cup fifth round match on Saturday but has urged his players to adapt to a battered playing surface at Rodney Parade.
Guardiola expects Man City to suffer in tricky trip to Newport

Eriksen's free-kick rescues point for Spurs as they finish fourth after draw with Everton Curbishley demands strong finish. But the Addicks boss is determined to stay focused on club
Marco Silva demands strong finish to the season from Everton

Step up or ship out: Solskjaer LONDON • Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has warned his under-achieving Manchester United players there is no "hiding place" for them and that they are playing for their futures at the club.
Ready for City aggression, Football News & Top Stories - The

Newcastle are headed in the other direction as once again they were inspired by the performance of record signing Miguel Almiron to end Burnley's eight-game unbeaten Premier League run with a 2
Leicester Welcome Rodgers With Win, Newcastle End Burnley Run

Neymar will miss both legs of Paris Saint-Germains upcoming Champions League last-16 tie against Manchester United after the French club confirmed on Tuesday that the worlds most expensive player
Neymar to miss Man Utd tie after being ruled out for 10 weeks

Football: Sarri eyes win streak to avoid Chelsea axe

Gotze predicts Borussia Dortmund success in Champions League despite 'very difficult' group Borussia Dortmund did not make it through the Champions League group stage last term, but Mario Gotze
Gotze predicts Borussia Dortmund success in Champions League

Disfruta de los mejores regates, caños, taconazos y todos los detalles del crack argentino con el FC Barcelona en LaLiga Santander 2017/2018 Suscríbete al ca
Messi - FC Barcelona: News and official stats - laliga.es

British crash investigators on Tuesday launched an underwater operation to recover a body from the wreckage of the plane carrying Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala in the Channel. UK rescuers
UK rescuers launch bid to recover body from Sala's plane

There is one massive reason Arsenal got thrashed last night in the Europa League final against Chelsea and that is the manager Unai Emery. Now, I will say straight up I am not calling for him to be sacked or anything like that and I do believe that he needs at least one more season to try and build the team in his image but neither will I make any more excuses for him.
The Straits Times - Breaking News, Lifestyle & Multimedia News

Call in Iran for footballers to be punished over Japan melee during the 2019 AFC Asian Cup semi-final football match between Iran and Japan at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Al-Ain on January
Call in Iran for footballers to be punished over Japan melee

New Contract for Asian Cup Winning Coach Sanchez Soon, Says QFA Boss. he said he could not "remember". Meanwhile, Qatar are preparing to compete in the Copa America alongside Argentina
Qatar will not get carried away with North Korea win - Sportstar

England eased to a 5-1 victory at Montenegro on Monday evening and two Chelsea players in Ross Barkley and Callum Hudson-Odoi were at the heart of it.. Barkley assisted the first goal with a delightful cross for Michael Keane to head home, while he turned Hudson-Odoi's shot into the net for the second.
The one thing that could bring Sarri's downfall with both
0 Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen