Mohamed Salah marked his return to Liverpool action by providing an assist as Hugo Ekitike’s brace powered the Reds to a 2-0 Premier League victory over Brighton at Anfield.
The win lifted Arne Slot’s side up to sixth in the table and extended their unbeaten run to five matches, securing a first home league win since early November.
Much of the focus was on Salah, who was recalled to the matchday squad after being left out of Liverpool’s midweek Champions League win at Inter Milan following his emotional post-match comments at Leeds.
The Egyptian was initially named among the substitutes but entered the game after just 26 minutes when Joe Gomez was forced off injured, prompting Dominik Szoboszlai to drop into right-back.
Liverpool made the perfect start.
Gomez played a key role in the opening goal, flicking on a header that Ekitike controlled before smashing a volley past Bart Verbruggen inside a minute – the fastest goal scored in the Premier League this season.
Brighton had several chances to respond but failed to make them count.
Alisson produced a fine save to deny Diego Gomez when he was clean through, and the same player later squandered an open goal after the break.
Those misses proved costly.
On the hour mark, Salah’s corner found Ekitike unmarked at the far post and the French striker made no mistake with a powerful header to double Liverpool’s lead.
It was his 10th goal of the campaign and his second consecutive league double following the dramatic draw at Leeds.
Salah’s assist took his Premier League total for Liverpool to 277 goal involvements in 302 appearances, a new competition record for a single club, surpassing Wayne Rooney’s mark at Manchester United.
He was lively after coming on and went close to scoring late on but blazed wide after being set up by Federico Chiesa.
After the final whistle, Salah applauded all four sides of Anfield before preparing to join Egypt for international duty ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations, where he could miss up to eight Liverpool fixtures if his country reach the final.
Despite ongoing uncertainty surrounding his future at the club, Liverpool responded well to a turbulent week with consecutive wins and clean sheets.
Brighton, meanwhile, slipped to ninth.
With Salah and Alexander Isak both starting on the bench, Ekitike once again led the line and underlined his growing importance to Slot’s side.
His sharp movement and clinical finishing were evident from the opening seconds and he remained a constant threat throughout.
The 23-year-old could easily have completed a hat-trick before half-time, firing over from a Gomez pass and dragging another effort wide after a clever flick from Florian Wirtz.
His developing partnership with Wirtz showed promise, even though the German midfielder is still waiting for his first Premier League goal involvement.
Ekitike eventually made his dominance count again from Salah’s corner, converting his seventh attempt of the match.
By contrast, record signing Isak struggled to make an impact after replacing him late on.
With Cody Gakpo sidelined through injury and Salah set to depart for Afcon duty, Ekitike’s role in the coming weeks looks set to grow even further.
Brighton began the day above Liverpool in the standings but left Anfield frustrated after failing to capitalise on a host of opportunities.
An expected goals total of 1.91 highlighted their profligacy.
A poor clearance from Yankuba Minteh led to Liverpool’s opener, though he was otherwise dangerous, setting up Diego Gomez for a golden chance that Alisson denied.
Gomez later wasted an even clearer opportunity when presented with an open goal in the second half.
Brajan Gruda also went close with a low drive, but despite 13 attempts and regular touches inside Liverpool’s box, Brighton forced just one save from Alisson.
It summed up a worrying trend for Fabian Hurzeler’s side, who remain without a win in December after nine matches during the month.
