Brighton score another win against Liverpool, this time in the FA Cup
A L B I O N R E P O R T - ( 17 )
29 JANUARY 2023 -
EMIRATES FA CUP, FOURTH ROUND
BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION 2 ( Lewis Dunk, Kaoru Mitoma)
LIVERPOOL 1 ( Harvey Elliott )
at the AMERICAN EXPRESS COMMUNITY STADIUM, FALMER.
For the second time in fifteen days the Albion welcomed Liverpool to the Amex, on this occasion for a Fourth Round Emirates FA Cup tie, "live" in front of the ITV1 cameras and over the airwaves on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio Sussex Sport.
In their previous outing the Seagulls had drawn 2-2 at Leicester City in the Premier on the 21st January and for the visit of Liverpool Head Coach Roberto De Zerbi made four changes to his starting line-up from the Leicester game, with Jason Steele, Tariq Lamptey, Adam Webster and Evan Ferguson replacing Robert Sanchez, Jan Paul Van Hecke, Moises Caicedo and Adam Lallana (injured). Caicedo, having expressed a desire to move on to fresh pastures, was told by Coach De Zerbi to stay away from the squad until the closure of the January transfer window.
It had been reported that Arsenal had made bids of £60 million and then £70 million for Caicedo, both of which had been rejected by the Albion.
Last time out Liverpool had drawn 0-0 at home to Chelsea in the Premier on the 21st January and for the visit to the Amex, Manager Jurgen Klopp made one change to his starting line-up from that game, with Trent Alexander-Arnold coming in for James Milner.
This was the third meeting between the teams this season. On the 1st October 2022 at Anfield in the Premier it was 3-3, with Leandro Trossard netting a hat-trick for the Albion. Liverpool's goals came from Roberto Firmino 2 and Adam Webster, own goal .
On the 14 January2023, the Albion beat Liverpool 3-0 at the Amex in the Premier, with the goals coming from Solly March 2 and Danny Welbeck .
Early on, Lewis Dunk came to Albion's rescue when he cleared Mohamed Salah's goal-bound shot off his own goal-line and minutes later Evan Ferguson's shot from close-in was cleared off his own line by Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold. Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson then made a smart save to keep out to keep out a low shot from Kaoru Mitoma. At the other end, a fine through-ball by Harvey Elliott found the on-running Salah whose curled shot just missed the target and then Tariq Lamptey made a fine defensive clearance to prevent Salah getting on the end of a Cody Gakpo cross. The visitors took the lead on 30 minutes when Salah's pass found Elliott and the young midfielder ran on before sending a cross-shot past Jason Steele in the Albion goal. 0-1.
The Seagulls deservedly equalised on 39 minutes when Lamptey's shot from distance was deflected into the Liverpool net by Dunk 1-1.
A keenly contested first-half with honours even. Half-time 1-1.
The second-half started with Dunk sending a free-kick from 25 yards out narrowly wide, following a foul on Alexis Mac Allister. On 54 minutes good work by Mitoma and Solly March ended with Pascal Gross's shot clearing the crossbar.
Keeper Steele made a fine save to deflect a Salah shot. It was now end-to-end stuff and Alisson made a superb block save to deny March. Near the end of normal time.
Liverpool's Fabinho received a yellow card for a dreadful tackle on Ferguson, when it should have been a red, Deniz Undav substituting for the injured Ferguson.
Two minutes into time added the Amex erupted as Mitoma took a Pervis Estupinan cross in his stride flicking the ball over Joe Gomez before smashing the ball home for a magnificent winner. The Albion fans went wild with delight. A VAR check confirmed the validity of the goal. 2-1. Another superb win for the Seagulls over Liverpool.
Final-score 2-1.
The Seagulls had 13 shots at goal, with 6 on target and won 3 corners, free-kicks conceded - 10.
Liverpool had 8 shots at goal, with 2 on target and won 2 corners, free-kicks conceded - 15.
TO SUM UP - An excellent cup win for the Seagulls. The winning goal by Kaoru Mitoma should be a candidate for goal of the season. There were also strong performances by Lewis Dunk and Evan Ferguson. Albion's reward for their win is a trip to Stoke City of the Sky Bet Championship in the Fifth Round at the end of February.
Albion line-up (4-2-3-1):- Jason Steele; Tariq Lamptey (Jan Paul Van Hecke 90+6), Adam Webster (Joel Veltman 46), Lewis Dunk (Capt), Pervis Estupinan; Pascal Gross, Alexis Mac Allister; Solly March, Danny Welbeck (Billy Gilmour 67), Kaoru Mitoma; Evan Ferguson (Deniz Undav 89).
Subs not used: Robert Sanchez (G/K). Jeremy Sarmiento, Julio Enciso, Andrew Moran, Jack Hinshelwood.
Liverpool line-up (4-3-3):- Alisson Becker; Trent Alexander-Arnold (James Milner 59), Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez, Andrew Robertson; Thiago Alcantara (Curtis Jones 79), Maquieira Bajcetic (Fabinho 85), Naby Keita (Jordan Henderson 59); Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, Harvey Elliott (Darwin Nunez 59).
Subs not used: Caoimhin Kelleher (G/K), Joel Matip, Kostas Tsimikas, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Referee: David Coote (Nottinghamshire)
Yellow Cards: Albion: 1 - Lewis Dunk. Liverpool: 4 - Ibrahima Konate, Andrew Robertson, Maquieira Bajcetic, Fabinho.
Possession: Albion - 56%. Liverpool - 44%.
BBC Sport Player of the Match: Kaoru Mitoma (Albion).
Attendance: 31675.
TRANSFER NEWS:
30 JANUARY 2023 - Albion sign - YASIN AYARI - (19) - Midfielder - from
AIK (Sweden) - on a four-and-a-half year contract - on undisclosed terms.
31 JANUARY 2023 - SHANE DUFFY - (31) - Defender - joins FULHAM - after converting his season-long loan into a permanent deal.
NEXT GAME:
4 FEBRUARY 2023 - AFC BOURNEMOUTH - home - Premier League - kick-off 15.00.
Jack Kaye.
3 February 2023.