Liverpool lead Brighton 2-0 at half-time at Anfield, two goals in four minutes transforming a tense Sunday afternoon into the flying start Andoni Iraola has been waiting for at home — a deflected Florian Wirtz effort followed by a close-range Alexander Isak finish.
After days of doubt over whether Storm Boelo would even allow this game to be played — a story Beyond The Final Whistle followed in its postponement preview — Liverpool seized control early against a Brighton side who arrived third in the table, top scorers in the division and on a run of four straight league wins.
Two goals in four minutes stun the Seagulls
Brighton suffered an early blow when Ferdi Kadioglu was forced off injured after just six minutes, replaced by Costinha, and Liverpool turned the screw. Yasin Ayari blazed over when the visitors should have scored, and within minutes Liverpool made them pay at the other end.
On 17 minutes Ronald Araujo drove forward and fed Wirtz, whose low shot took a heavy deflection off Pascal Gross and beat Bart Verbruggen — officially recorded as a Gross own goal by Sky Sports, and, as the live coverage noted, the first time Liverpool have led at any stage of a league game at Anfield this season.
Four minutes later it was 2-0. Bradley Barcola burst down the right and crossed for Isak, who turned the ball home from close range for his sixth goal of the season, as charted by NBC Sports. Cody Gakpo had already forced a stretching save from Verbruggen, and Brighton, for all their threat this season, managed only a single shot attempt in the opening spell before Ayari struck the post as they rallied late in the half.
So what? Iraola's first home win is suddenly in sight
Iraola is still searching for his first home league victory since taking over at Anfield in the summer, and Liverpool started the day fifth with 12 points — three draws blunting an otherwise unbeaten start. A win here would lift them above Brighton and send a message that the expensive front line of Wirtz, Barcola and Isak is finally clicking together, in the same spirit as the comeback Beyond The Final Whistle covered in the Villarreal thriller.
For Fabian Hurzeler, the second half is now a test of nerve. Brighton are the league's top scorers and have beaten Liverpool twice in their last four meetings, but they have not won at Anfield since February 2021, and a side missing a long list of absentees — including Kaoru Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh — cannot afford another slow start after the break.
Beyond the Final Whistle: this is what Iraola's Liverpool are supposed to look like — front-foot, ruthless and built around their three big-money attackers all contributing in the same move sequence. Two goals in four minutes does not finish Brighton, the league's most dangerous attack, but it finally gives Anfield a lead to protect and a performance to believe in. Can Liverpool see this out for Iraola's first home league win — or will Brighton's second-half fightback spoil it?
