Merseyside | Liverpool ease to FA Cup progress

Liverpool 3 - 0 Brighton & Hove Albion

Mohamed Salah scored and set up another as Liverpool eased past Brighton book their place in the FA Cup fifth round.

Author | William G

Stadium | Anfield

The hosts went in front before the interval through Curtis Jones, before Salah turned provider after the break with a precise assist for Dominik Szoboszlai, who thundered home at the end of a slick move.

Ten minutes later Salah was felled in the area and the Egypt forward dispatched the resulting penalty beyond Jason Steele to effectively settle the contest.

Brighton threatened intermittently but were left to rue missed chances and have now managed only two wins from their last 15 matches.

Liverpool have responded well to last weekend’s defeat by Manchester City, following it up with a strong midweek victory at Sunderland and another assured display against the Seagulls. Despite an uneven campaign, there remains a sense of momentum about their season.

Both Liverpool head coach Arne Slot and Brighton’s Fabian Hurzeler largely stuck with the sides that featured in midweek Premier League action, and it was the visitors who began with greater intent.

Liverpool gradually asserted control in this match

Three minutes before the break, Curtis Jones, starting at right-back and making his first start since 17 January, met Milos Kerkez’s cross to steer a composed finish past Steele.

Brighton spurned two clear chances to draw level, with Alisson denying Diego Gomez and Lewis Dunk either side of half-time.

Szoboszlai doubled the lead in the 56th minute with his 10th goal of the season after a fluent passing move. Virgil van Dijk picked out Cody Gakpo, whose diagonal ball found Salah, and the winger’s deft touch set up the Hungarian to finish with authority.

Hurzeler responded with a triple change at 2-0 down, but Liverpool soon struck again as Salah was upended by Pascal Gross following a surging run. The 33-year-old drove his penalty into the top corner for his seventh goal of the season and a display that stood out as his most complete since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations.

It should have been 4-0

There was still time for Rio Ngumoha to think he had added a fourth with a fine curling finish, only for the effort to be ruled out for offside, despite replays suggesting otherwise.

With VAR not in use until the fifth round, the 17-year-old was left unfortunate not to mark the occasion with a goal.