Liverpool finally won a Premier League game at Anfield under Andoni Iraola, beating high-flying Brighton 2-0 on Sunday with two goals in four first-half minutes — a Pascal Gross own goal forced by Florian Wirtz and a close-range Alexander Isak finish — to end the Seagulls' eight-game unbeaten run.
Brighton arrived at Anfield third in the table, the division's top scorers and winners of four straight league games, and for a week the bigger question had been whether Storm Boelo would allow the game to be played at all, as Beyond The Final Whistle charted in its postponement preview. The storm passed, the game went ahead, and Liverpool produced their most convincing home performance of the season.
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, but they still created the first big chance: Yasin Ayari blazed over an open goal after Pascal Gross had cut the ball back, and Liverpool made him pay almost immediately.
On 17 minutes Ronald Araujo drove forward and fed Florian Wirtz, whose low shot took a heavy deflection off Gross and beat Bart Verbruggen — officially recorded as a Gross own goal in the Sky Sports match stats, and the first time Liverpool had led at any stage of a league game at Anfield this season. Four minutes later Bradley Barcola burst down the right and crossed for Alexander Isak to turn home from close range, his sixth goal of the season.
Cody Gakpo forced a stretching save from Verbruggen and Ayari struck the post as Brighton rallied, but the visitors — missing Kaoru Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh among a long list of absentees — managed only one shot on target all afternoon despite having 64 per cent of the ball, as the full report from This Is Anfield recorded in naming Ronald Araujo its man of the match for a full-blooded defensive display.
Wirtz injury the only cloud as Liverpool see it out
The second half was about control rather than spectacle. Wirtz, who had taken a knock, was replaced by Trey Nyoni on 65 minutes, and Rio Ngumoha and Lewis Koumas came on for Barcola and Isak as Iraola protected his lead and his forwards. Jeremy Jacquet and Araujo made brave headed blocks, Alisson watched an Ayari effort bounce off the post, and Brighton, who had rested eight players for their Europa League tie at Jablonec on Thursday, could not find the goal that would have changed the mood.
The pattern was familiar from the interval position Beyond The Final Whistle reported in its half-time report: Liverpool's expensive front line of Wirtz, Barcola and Isak combining in the same moves, and a defence finally giving Anfield a lead it could defend. There were no red cards and no late drama — just a clean sheet against the league's most prolific attack.
So what? Liverpool jump to fourth, Brighton stay third
The win lifts Liverpool to 15 points and fourth place, above Chelsea and now just a point behind Brighton, who stay third on 16 despite seeing their unbeaten run end. For Iraola, a first home league win removes the one question that had followed his start at Anfield, where three draws had blunted an otherwise unbeaten opening before this weekend.
Next up, Liverpool host Chelsea in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday before the small matter of Arsenal's visit in the league next Sunday, while Brighton travel to leaders Manchester City on Saturday — a fixture that will test whether this was a blip or the start of a wobble for Fabian Hurzeler's side.
Beyond the Final Whistle: this is the afternoon Iraola's Liverpool clicked — the £100m attackers combining, the defence standing up to the league's top scorers, and Anfield finally celebrating a home league win. One game does not make a title challenge, but beating the form team 2-0 with a clean sheet is a statement. Can Liverpool now back it up against Arsenal — or was Brighton simply a good match-up at the right time?
