Salah Returns With Assist As Ekitike Double Fires Liverpool To 2-0 Win Over Brighton
Mohamed Salah enjoyed a notable return to action for Liverpool by providing an assist as Arne Slot’s side secured a win over Brighton, powered by a brace from Hugo Ekitike.
The victory lifted Liverpool up to sixth place in the table and stretched their unbeaten run to five matches, while also delivering their first success at Anfield since November 4.
Attention was firmly on Salah, who was included in the matchday squad after being omitted from the midweek Champions League win at Inter Milan following his widely discussed outburst at Leeds United. Starting on the bench, the Egyptian was introduced in the 26th minute after Joe Gomez was forced off injured, with Dominik Szoboszlai switching to right-back.
Liverpool made a dream start, scoring inside the opening minute. Gomez rose to meet a ball into the box and nodded it into the path of Ekitike, who controlled and fired past Bart Verbruggen after just 46 seconds — the fastest Premier League goal this season.
Brighton had opportunities to draw level but failed to capitalise. Alisson denied Diego Gomez when he broke through on goal, and the same player later missed an open net early in the second half.
Those missed chances proved costly as Liverpool doubled their advantage on the hour mark. Salah’s corner found Ekitike unmarked at the back post, and the French striker headed in his second of the afternoon.
The goal took Ekitike to 10 league goals for the season and marked his second consecutive double, following his two strikes in the 3-3 draw at Leeds.
Salah’s assist was historic, moving him to 277 goal involvements in 302 Premier League appearances for Liverpool — the highest tally by any player at a single club, surpassing Wayne Rooney’s record at Manchester United.
He was lively after coming on and nearly crowned his return with a goal late on, but fired wide in stoppage time after being set up by Federico Chiesa.
After the final whistle, Salah acknowledged the Anfield crowd from all sides of the stadium before preparing to join up with the national team ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations, where he could miss up to eight matches should Egypt reach the final.
Despite ongoing uncertainty over his future at the club, Liverpool recorded back-to-back wins and clean sheets, while Brighton slipped to ninth place.
