Mohamed Salah produced a sublime assist and scored a penalty as Liverpool beat Brighton 3-0 in the FA Cup fourth round at Anfield. The Egyptian forward, who faced questions over his future after a difficult December meeting with the same opponents, has now scored or assisted in four consecutive games since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations.
Curtis Jones opened the scoring just before half-time, turning in Milos Kerkez's low cross for his first goal of the season. Dominik Szoboszlai then doubled the lead with a stunning volley after Salah cushioned a pass into his path. The Hungary captain's strike was described by Salah as 'one of the best players in the world right now'.
Salah won and converted the penalty that sealed the victory, turning Ferdi Kadioglu before being dragged back by Pascal Gross. The spot-kick gave goalkeeper Jason Steele no chance. Liverpool substitute Rio Ngumoha had a late goal wrongly disallowed for offside.
Brighton, who have now gone three games without scoring, had chances through Jack Hinshelwood and Diego Gómez but were denied by Alisson. Manager Fabian Hürzeler said: 'Moments decided the game, unfortunately in the wrong direction. Liverpool had the quality to use their chances.'
Liverpool boss Arne Slot praised Salah's all-round contribution: 'It is very nice to have Mo on the scoresheet again. But what I like the most is he also helps the team a lot defensively.' Slot rested Hugo Ekitiké and Ryan Gravenberch but fielded a strong side as Liverpool advanced to round five.
