Mohamed Salah scored twice but Liverpool had to settle for a point after an entertaining 2-2 draw with Brighton.
Jurgen Klopp’s side have made a habit of making slow starts this season before eventually clicking into gear, and it looked to be a similar story at the Amex Stadium as they responded well to last weekend’s controversial defeat to Tottenham.
Simon Adingra pounced on an Alexis Mac Allister error to give Brighton the lead, winning the ball back and then curling an effort beyond Alisson from distance as the Liverpool goalkeeper failed to scramble back onto his line in time.
But Salah scored twice in the space of five minutes before half-time to turn the match around. The Egyptian equalised with a first-time finish after Harvey Elliott let the ball run in the box, and he did not have to wait long for his second.
Pascal Gross was robbed of the ball in his own box, and responded by dragging Dominik Szoboszlai to the ground. The Brighton man was perhaps fortunate to avoid a red card, and remarkably avoided even a yellow, but Salah ensured there was at least some punishment as he dispatched the penalty.
Ryan Gravenberch, on at half-time, had a huge chance to extend Liverpool’s lead when Szoboszlai picked him out with a brilliant ball across the face of goal, but the Dutchman somehow turned his effort against the bar from a couple of yards out.
That proved a costly miss. Liverpool maintained their heading towards the final ten minutes of the match, but saw it disappear as Solly March whipped a superb free-kick into the middle and Lewis Dunk was there to turn it home from close-range.
Joao Pedro had a huge chance to win it late on, as Adingra’s cut back fell perfectly to him, but the finish was a wild one as both sides earned a point they will be relatively content with heading into the international break.
