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.
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