Brighton & Hove Albion’s Jack Hinshelwood on Monday sealed a dramatic 3-2 victory against Liverpool to leave the English Premier League champions without a win since clinching the title.
Arne Slot’s side took the lead through Harvey Elliott’s early opener before Yasin Ayari equalized at the American Express Stadium.
Dominik Szoboszlai restored Liverpool’s advantage just before halftime, but Brighton staged a late fightback as Kaoru Mitoma leveled before Hinshelwood came off the bench to net with his first touch.
Photo: AP
Liverpool have taken just one point from their three matches following the title-clinching rout of Tottenham Hotspur on April 27.
The Reds have lost at Brighton and Chelsea, and squandered a two-goal lead in a draw with Arsenal since their record-equaling 20th English crown was confirmed.
They can now look forward to receiving the Premier League trophy in Sunday’s season finale against FA Cup winners Crystal Palace at Anfield before an open-top bus parade through the city 24 hours later.
“Great game of football, but not the result we wanted,” Slot said. “If you don’t score the third goal then it’s hard to win at this level, especially away from home. We cannot miss chances like we did if you want to win.”
“I know these players already for 10 months, so it’s not the first time I’m judging them, but it’s nice to see Harvey score a goal and have an assist,” he said. “Federico Chiesa had some nice moments as well considering how long he’s not been playing.”
Slot had admitted that motivating the champions for the final two matches of the season was a tricky task and his fears were confirmed by a sloppy display.
Slot’s players had a celebratory trip to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, last week and only returned to training on Friday, while the Reds boss was seen partying in Ibiza for several days as they soaked in a title victory secured in April.
“Did you see me on social media,” Slot said with a laugh in reply to a question about how focused he had been on the Brighton game.
Ahead of his widely-expected move to Real Madrid when his contract expires, Trent Alexander-Arnold was left on the bench for a second successive game.
Conor Bradley featured at rightback instead and showed why he is a contender to replace Alexander-Arnold with his role in Liverpool’s ninth-minute opener.
When Mohamed Salah rolled a pass to Bradley, he shifted gears with a dynamic burst into the Brighton penalty area before clipping a precise pass toward Elliott, who slotted home from close range.
The goal meant Liverpool had scored in every away game of a league season for the first time in their history.
Bradley’s attacking runs had more than a touch of Alexander-Arnold about them, but his finishing was not up to scratch when he took Federico Chiesa’s pass and fired wide.
Ayari grabbed Brighton’s eye-catching equalizer in the 32nd minute.
The Sweden midfielder eluded Bradley and drilled a fine low finish past Alisson Becker from the edge of the penalty area after Brajan Gruda’s lofted pass prized open the Liverpool defense.
Liverpool regained the lead on the stroke of halftime when Szoboszlai caught out Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen with a swerving strike from wide on the right flank that whistled into the top corner.
Szoboszlai’s bemused grin as he celebrated suggested the midfielder’s effort might have been a miscued cross rather than a shot.
Salah was captaining Liverpool for the first time in the Premier League to mark his 300th appearance in the competition, but the Egypt forward missed an open goal when he flicked Cody Gakpo’s cross wide from close range.
It was a costly mistake from Salah as Brighton equalized in the 69th minute.
Welbeck’s shot was pushed out by Alisson and Japan winger Mitoma hammered in the rebound.
Hinshelwood completed Brighton’s thrilling comeback in the 85th minute, the substitute slotting home from Matt O’Riley’s cross.
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
RSS