FA Cup holders Liverpool have bee knocked out of the competition after their latest embarrassment at the Amex Stadium. A 92nd minute winner from Kaoru Mitoma piled more misery on Jurgen Klopp’s men who are already having tough Premier League season. This is the second time in the month that Liverpool have lost at the venue having earlier lost 0-3 in the Premier League game, later described by the manager as his worst encounter as Liverpool manager.
Brighton keep cool despite Caicedo transfer saga
The hosts, as expected, were without wantaway midfielder Moises Caicedo, who went public with his desire to leave after Arsenal had a £60m bid rejected on Friday. "We are ready to go forward without him," manager Roberto De Zerbi said post-match. "If we don't lose Caicedo we are ready to fight for Europe," he added.
The Reds went ahead when Mo Salah carved through the heart of the Brighton defence, highlighting Caicedo's obvious absence, to find the intelligent run of Harvey Elliott, who squirmed the ball beneath an onrushing Jason Steele (30).
Brighton responded valiantly, restoring parity nine minutes later when Tariq Lamptey's long-range effort deflected fortuitously beyond a wrong-footed Allison via the boot of Lewis Dunk (39).
Jurgen Klopp attempted to force the issue midway through the second period, introducing James Milner, Jordan Henderson and Darwin Nunez, but spirited Brighton held firm, before firing the killer blow in second-half stoppage time.
Mitoma breaks Liverpool hearts
Mitoma, outstanding all afternoon, had threatened Allison's goal on multiple occasions and was rewarded for his persistence in the dying embers of the game, shimmying through a crowd of players at the back post before rifling the winner into the roof of the net (90+2).
The warning signs were there but they went unheeded by Liverpool's often lifeless backline. Back at the scene of a 3-0 thumping a fortnight ago which Klopp described as the worst of his managerial career, the Reds were improved in patches, but powerless to prevent Mitoma's wonderful improvisation late on.
