Key events
To a woman and man, Anfield gives Liverpool their flowers on Valentine’s Day. Deservedly so. The home side were excellent, and two of their best performers, Mo Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai – who combined so elegantly for Liverpool’s wonderful second goal – speak to TNT.
Salah: “There was pressure for sure [on the penalty] … I’m glad we managed to win the game … a very important win for us … for confidence for upcoming games … we rely on [Szoboszlai] so much … he is one of the best players in the world right now … I wish he could carry on like this … it is good to win a trophy so hopefully we can win again …
Szoboszlai: “I just want to keep going .. score as many as I can … I’m not playing a Steven Gerrard season [the comparison having been made as they both wear No8] … I am trying to do my own story … try to do my best every game … hopefully we can go on to the end.”
Thing is, Brighton weren’t half bad, and will surely feel 3-0 to be a heavier punishment than was warranted. Had either Jack Hinshelwood or Diego Gomez taken their big chance just before the break, the story could have been different. But once Salah and Szoboszlai combined for Liverpool’s sublime second, the jig was up. Albion’s wait for a first FA Cup goes on; Liverpool can keep dreaming of their ninth.
FULL TIME: Liverpool 3-0 Brighton
It was comfortable for Liverpool in the end. But Brighton performed well too, and made the hosts work. Liverpool into the hat for the fifth round!
90 min +5: Mitoma jinks down the left. His dangerous ball through the six-yard box forces Kerkez to turn out for a corner. Boscagli then heads over the bar from close range. It just wasn’t to be for Brighton tonight.
90 min +3: Liverpool stroke it around and run down the clock. The fifth round ahoy.
90 min +1: On TNT, Ally McCoist names Curtis Jones as his player of the match. I’d have gone with Mohamed Salah myself – a goal, that dribble, that assist – but who am I to argue with Super Ally?
90 min: There will be four added minutes.
89 min: Another Liverpool double change, as Gakpo and Jones are switched out for Nyoni and the lesser-spotted (ie clearly untrusted by his manager) right-back Ramsay.
88 min: Rutter smacks a shot wide left from the edge of the box. Konate was down holding his head at the time. He’s back up now.
87 min: Liverpool’s defence fall asleep as one, allowing Mitoma the chance to shoot from ten yards. Straight at Alisson, then hacked out by Konate. That’s sloppy defending from the hosts, and it nearly cost them the chance of a clean sheet. Nothing comes from the resulting corner.
85 min: Mitoma busies himself down the left and wins a corner off Konate. Nothing comes of it. Liverpool have the chance to launch a counter through Jones, but the midfielder miscontrols. Had he taken that as he should have, he’d surely have released Ngumoha through on goal. Somewhere, in a parallel universe, the 17-year-old winger has just scored his second goal in under four minutes. The small margins.
83 min: Wieffer nearly closes down Alisson, but a last-ditch Cruyff Turn gets the keeper out of bother and the patrons of Anfield out of their seats.
81 min: Gakpo steams into acres of space down the middle. He lays off to Ngumoha on the left. Ngumoha sashays into the box and whip-cracks a delicious shot across Steele and into the bottom right. It’s a glorious goal, but the flag goes up for offside. That was tight. A fair chance that, had VAR been activated this evening, that would have stood. Shame for the young man.
79 min: Liverpool play a bit of keepball.
77 min: That’s Salah’s last action tonight. He’s replaced by Ekitike, while Chiesa makes way for Ngumoha. Salah, back to near his best tonight, receives the love. It is Valentine’s Day after all.
75 min: Mitoma tees up Kadioglu on the edge of the Liverpool D. His shot is deflected over the bar by Szoboszlai. But from the resulting corner, Liverpool tear upfield on the counter! Salah beats last man Kadioglu on halfway, but doesn’t have the legs to make it to the box before Mitoma, making a wonderful recovery run, closes him down.
74 min: Jones attempts to release Chiesa down the left touchline, but delays the pass and eventually Chiesa is caught offside.
73 min: Minteh, advancing down the inside right, has the chance of finding Kostoulas in the Liverpool box, but his pass along the channel is overhit. Alisson claims. That was a good opportunity for Brighton to launch the first stage of an improbable comeback.
72 min: Brighton swap out Van Hecke, on a yellow card, for Boscagli.
71 min: Liverpool replace Wirtz with Gomez, who moves into the right-back position, Jones moving back to his normal midfield beat.
70 min: Brighton may feel miffed that Salah got away with palming off Kadioglu in the rugby style. But as Ally McCoist points out on TNT, the Brighton defender really had to stand stronger.
GOAL! Liverpool 3-0 Brighton (Salah 68 pen)
Salah nearly takes the net off its moorings in whistling a perfect penalty into the top right. Steele guessed correctly, and even stuck up a brave hand. Great reaction, and yet nowhere near good enough. Salah and his mojo are back together all right!
Penalty for Liverpool
67 min: Salah spins Kadioglu with indecent ease down the right. He enters the box, shoving Kadioglu, who had done his best to recover, out of the way. Salah dribbles around before being skittled by Gross from behind. The referee points to the spot, then books Van Hecke for complaining. Salah will take what he earned all by himself.
65 min: Such a shame Szoboszlai, and Hungary, won’t be going to the World Cup.
63 min: Szoboszlai pays homage to the Winter Olympics by slaloming past a couple of challenges. He nearly breaks free into the box, but there’s one defender too many. Szoboszlai’s confidence is clearly sky-high right now. He’s been sensational all season.
62 min: Brighton make a triple change. Howell, Gomez and Baleba make way for Mintah, Mitoma and Rutter.
61 min: Szoboszlai’s delivery isn’t the best, but Brighton allow the ball to bounce through to Salah, who from the right-hand edge of the six-yard box, shoots through a crowded zone. Dunk blocks. Salah tries again and slices wide.
60 min: Gakpo is clipped out on the left flank. Free kick. Everyone lines up on the edge of the box waiting for Szoboszlai to deliver.
59 min: Brighton had come so close to an equaliser as well. Alisson’s intervention with Van Hecke waiting to head home hugely important.
57 min: Salah, his mojo relocated all right, now tees up Mac Allister, whose low shot is deflected wide right. Let’s not spoil the effect by mentioning the following corner, which Salah fluffs into the side netting.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Brighton (Szoboszlai 56)
… yes, it could well be unfolding again. Because Liverpool double their lead with one of the goals of the season. Gakpo spins infield from the left on the halfway line. He creams a diagonal pass towards Salah on the right. Salah spots Szoboszlai tearing down the inside-right channel on the underlap. He cushions a perfect first-time ball into his path. Szoboszlai runs onto it, and sends a first-time screamer across Steele and into the top left. What a goal!
55 min: Brighton made chances here at Anfield back in December, but couldn’t take advantage of any of them. Is the same story unfolding tonight?
53 min: Kerkez nips in ahead of Howell, the pair tumbling over. If anything, it’s a free kick for Liverpool, Howell taking his man down from behind, but Brighton get the decision. And from the resulting free kick, hooked in long from the right, Dunk heads across the face of goal. Van Hecke dives in, and if he connects he won’t miss with his header, but Alisson sticks out an arm to deflect it away from the big defender. Liverpool eventually clear their lines after a scramble. That’s avoided some controversy, if nothing else. Brighton looking super-dangerous, though.
52 min: Brighton have started the second half as they did the first: brightly. They’re up for this all right, hogging the ball and making their hosts do plenty of chasing.
50 min: Wirtz does a bit of ball-on-string dribbling in the Brighton box, but can’t fashion enough space for a shot. Twinkly toes, mind.
49 min: Nearly a farcical equaliser for Brighton, as Gomez closes down Alisson, the ball at the keeper’s feet. Alisson takes his sweet time over clearing, and when he eventually blooters the ball, it rebounds off Gomez and wide left of the goal. Lucky Alisson.
48 min: A lot of faffing around down Liverpool’s left touchline. Loads of players there, not a blade of grass to spare. Proper playground stuff.
46 min: Gomez bangs into the back of Konate. Just a free kick, though the Brighton player, having already gone into the book, wants to watch himself here.
Liverpool get the second half underway. They’re kicking towards the Kop in this second period. No changes. Meanwhile speaking of real love, Peter Oh has the sweetest heart: “In my ideal world, Liverpool win tonight but James Milner makes an appearance, slots in a consolation goal, points to the number 20 on the back of his shirt, and does a Baby Shark celebration in honour of Diogo Jota.”
Half-time entertainment, sent with love on this special day. “This came up this morning ahead of the cricket, and I think is worth sharing again,” begins Simon McMahon, now halfway through stage four of his all-day bender. “The greatest theme of them all, with added Valentine’s Day lyrics. I sent it to Mrs McMahon, old romantic that I am. She wasn’t impressed. If you’re reading this, please come home. I’m nothing without you.”
While we’re on the subject … hey, any old excuse. I enjoyed doing the research for this so much. Even better, I think most of the links are still intact. Try to get the Granada 1969 Herb Alpert number out of your head, go on.
HALF TIME: Liverpool 1-0 Brighton
Liverpool have the lead, and they’ve played well. But so have Brighton, who had their chances. This is far from over.
45 min +1: Another big chance for Brighton in the first of two additional minutes. Dunk rolls a pass down the inside left. Gomez spins around Jones, who slips. Van Dijk comes across to force Gomez into shooting early. He pokes straight at Alisson, who nevertheless saves well.
45 min: A corner for Brighton down the right. Howell sends a brilliant ball into the mixer, right on the head of Hinshelwood, who really has to score from six yards, but powers over the bar. That was a big chance.
44 min: Kerkez, the blood pumping, goes chest to chest with Veltman, the pair tangling near the dugouts. Arne Slot plays peacemaker, stepping in between the rutting stags and prising them apart. The referee makes do with some finger wagging.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Brighton (Jones 42)
Kerkez, who has been excellent tonight and a constant menace on the left, chases a deflected ball down his flank. He crosses into the centre, where Jones opens his body and improvises a kneed finish into the right-hand side of the net. Steele with no chance!
41 min: Mac Allister picks up a loose ball near the centre circle and prepares to advance down the middle at speed. Baleba cynically steps across him and earns Brighton their third booking of the afternoon. When the game restarts, Szoboszlai creams a long diagonal towards Salah on the right. Salah cuts back for Chiesa, whose low drive is blocked by Van Hecke. But it’s brief respite for Brighton, because …
39 min: One corner leads to another, then Konate is penalised for shoving. A long period of pressure on Brighton is released.
38 min: Kerkez romps after a long ball down the left. When he meets it, he sends a screaming shot across Steele and towards the top right. The keeper gets a strong fingertip to the shot, tipping over. That would have been a hell of a goal. Liverpool getting close now.
37 min: That’s got the home fans rolling on a boil, and they raise the volume further when Salah strips Kadioglu down the right and enters the box, before trying to squeak a shot cheekily into the right-hand corner. Steele reads the intent and gathers.
35 min: Another cheap free kick conceded by Brighton, this time by Howell, who skittles Gakpo to the left of the box. Szoboszlai whips the free kick towards the near post, where Gakpo smacks a header home from close range. Liverpool and Anfield celebrate the goal … but the flag goes up very late. Gakpo looks confused, and Anfield fumes, but it’s the correct decision. A reminder that there’s no VAR tonight, so either way, the no-goal decision stands.
34 min: Gomez is booked for tugging Salah’s shirt on the halfway line. No real need for that. And on the subject of bookings, here’s Mike MacKenzie: “Re the 24th minute when Gross was ‘tugged back slyly by Mac Allister’. Maybe refs give more leeway when a foul is made slyly? Good style is appreciated!”
32 min: … so having said Liverpool were keeping Brighton at arm’s length, the visitors are getting back into it, enjoying a lengthy period of possession and territorial advantage. Brighton have bumped their possession percentage back up to 55.
31 min: Dunk buys a ticket for the lottery from the best part of 30 yards. He’s aiming towards the top left. It’s always flying high and wide … but not by much. Alisson rated it enough to shuffle across and look concerned.
