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.
New chapter for Tottenham as stadium hosts first game
Injured Suarez to miss China Cup for Uruguay. Suarez, 32, is expected to miss between 10 and 15 days after limping off late in Sunday's 4-1 win at Real Betis in La Liga.
Luis Suarez to miss China Cup for Uruguay due to ankle sprain
MADRID • A first trophy in seven years for Liverpool, and a first win in seven finals for Jurgen Klopp. The European Cup headed back to Anfield for the sixth time yesterday and their manager is confident there is much more to come, warning the rest of football's big boys that "this is still only the start".
Jurgen Klopp Vows 'It's Only the Start' for His Liverpool
Tottenham moved back into second place in the Premier League, six points behind leaders Liverpool, after cruising to a 3-0 win at lowly Cardiff City. Spurs back up to second after win at Cardiff.
Spurs back up to second after 3-0 win at Cardiff - Football
Former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann has made a bizarre claim about Tottenham Hotspur following their stadium move. The Lilywhites celebrated their long-awaited move to their new stadium in midweek with a 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace, which lifted Mauricio Pochettino's side back to third in the table - although Arsenal have a game in hand.
Rumour Has It: Tottenham to splash the cash for Poch
Live football odds with bet365. Mbappe reaches Ligue 1 half century as PSG brush Nimes aside. Paris Saint-Germain Christopher Nkunku's opener and Mbappe's second half-double maintained PSG
Football news - Kylian Mbappe reaches half century as PSG
Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling hit a hat-trick as England thrashed the Czech Republic 5-0 for their opening Euro 2020 qualifier. Manager Gareth Southgate gave Jadon Sancho his first
Raheem Sterling hits hat-trick as England thrash Czech
Messi's motivation spurs on Barcelona, says Rakitic AFP April 30, 2019 AFP No Comments Barcelona (AFP) - Ivan Rakitic has said Lionel Messi's desire to win the Champions League is proving an inspiration for Barcelona ahead of their Champions League semi-final first leg against Liverpool on Wednesday.
Messi's motivation spurs on Barcelona, says Rakitic | Sport24
Palatsides tipped for FAS technical director role, Football News & Top Stories - The Straits Times The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) has cast its net far and wide for a new technical director and could well settle on someone from Down Under.
Director Fas Jobs, Employment | Indeed.com
Beste Galerie von football raddy avramovic could make shock return to singapore as new home united coach - michelewilliamsphotography.com
Dyson revs up hiring for Singapore electric car plant - The
Maurizio Sarri condemns the alleged racist abuse of Raheem Sterling by Chelsea supporters but wants the club's main focus to be on Thursday's clash with Vidi. The Blues visit Budapest this week for their final Europa League group match, having already secured qualification to the last 32 in top spot
0 comments:
Post a Comment