Mohamed Salah marked his return to Liverpool action with an assist as the Reds claimed a 2-0 victory over Brighton at Anfield, with Hugo Ekitike scoring both goals.
The win moved Arne Slot’s side up to sixth place in the Premier League and extended their unbeaten run to five matches, while also ending their wait for a home league victory since early November.
Salah was the main focus ahead of kick-off after being left out of the midweek Champions League win at Inter Milan following his controversial reaction at Leeds. He began the match on the bench but was introduced in the 26th minute after Joe Gomez was forced off injured, with Dominik Szoboszlai shifting to right-back.
Liverpool made a blistering start, opening the scoring after just 46 seconds. Gomez headed the ball into the path of Ekitike, who controlled and fired past Bart Verbruggen to register the fastest Premier League goal of the season.
Brighton created chances to get back into the game but failed to convert them. Alisson produced a fine save to deny Diego Gomez when he broke through on goal, and the midfielder later missed an open net early in the second half.
The visitors were made to pay for those missed opportunities on the hour mark. Salah’s corner found Ekitike unmarked at the back post, and the French forward headed home his second of the afternoon.
The brace took Ekitike to 10 league goals for the campaign and marked his second consecutive double, following his two goals against Leeds.
Salah’s assist also saw him reach 277 goal involvements in 302 Premier League appearances for Liverpool, a club record that moved him ahead of Wayne Rooney’s tally at Manchester United.
The Egyptian came close to scoring late on but blazed wide in stoppage time after being teed up by Federico Chiesa.
After the final whistle, Salah applauded all four sides of Anfield as he prepared to depart for international duty ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations. Liverpool ended the week with back-to-back wins and clean sheets, while Brighton slipped to ninth in the table.
