A Bright start helps Reds to display mark of champions
LIVERPOOL produced a blistering start on the south coast last night as they saw off Brighton 3-1 to move within eight points of a century.
Jurgen Klopp’s champions had looked like they were suffering a hangover after clinching a first league title in 30 years, having been hammered at Manchester City and struggling to beat Aston Villa.
But the Reds were more like their usual selves here, and they scored twice in the opening eight minutes.
They went ahead after a mistake from Davy Propper, whose awful first touch allowed Naby Keita to nip in and square for Mohamed Salah to smash the ball into the net.
Then the hosts gave away the ball in midfield and a swarming Liverpool struck again, Georginio Wijnaldum finding Salah, who teed it up for Jordan Henderson to fire home.
But Brighton improved after that shocking start, and they scored a superb goal just before half-time, Tariq Lamptey crossing in expertly and Leandro Trossard thumping a half-volley beyond Alisson.
After the break, Dan Burn had a golden chance to equalise for the hosts, but could only scuff the ball across goal from close range.
Then, with 14 minutes left, a deflected effort from Henderson flew wide, and from the corner Salah headed home to make it 3-1.
Liverpool now need eight points from their last four games to match Manchester City’s 2017-18 achievement of reaching 100 points.