Football: Holders Liverpool beaten 2-1 by Brighton in FA Cup

BRIGHTON – Holders Liverpool were knocked out of the FA Cup after losing 2-1 at Brighton & Hove Albion in the fourth round on Sunday, as Kaoru Mitoma struck the winning goal in stoppage time.

The Reds are the third consecutive holders to go out at this stage, after Arsenal in 2020-21 and Leicester City in 2021-22.

Harvey Elliott put Liverpool ahead, Lewis Dunk equalised before half-time and the score stayed at 1-1 until Mitoma found the net in the 92nd minute with a fine finish.

It was the second time Brighton defeated Liverpool in January, having also beaten Jurgen Klopp’s side 3-0 in an English Premier League game at the Amex Stadium which he called the worst in his reign.

This, despite Brighton captain Dunk admitting that his side “weren’t at our best today”.

He told ITV: “Unbelievable ending. We weren’t at our best today, but we ground it out against a really good opponent.

“We were very good against them 15 days ago and beat them (3-0), so they were always going to want to beat us today.

“We had to dig in and fight. We feel like we can beat anyone on our best days, and today we showed we can beat teams when we’re not at our best.”

Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson was even more candid, saying: “This season has been nowhere near good enough.”

He told ITV: “We were more competitive than two weeks ago but that didn’t take much... At a club like Liverpool, fans expect a lot and to lose with the last kick of the ball it’s disappointing.

“We need to start winning games. It’s easy to say but harder to fix...

“At the start of the year, we wanted a fresh start but that hasn’t happened. We’ve been worse. In the league, we haven’t been good enough and now we’re out of both Cups now.

“You can’t put your finger on one thing, it’s more than that. You can tell we’re not as confident in front of goal and in defence we are a wee bit open. We had two clean sheets coming into today but then go and concede two goals.

“We need to get the confidence back, it’s easier said than done, and that’s how we will get results.

“We need to do it quick and we’re not. That it doesn’t help the fans, I’m sorry for them and the way we are putting on a show. We let them down again.”

Teenage midfielder Elliott put the Reds ahead in the 30th minute with a low shot into the far corner following a clever pass from Mohamed Salah.

Brighton equalised nine minutes later when Dunk got a flick on a long-range effort from Tariq Lamptey which deflected into the goal, with goalkeeper Alisson Becker wrong-footed.

Asked whether he had meant the touch, the centre-back said: “(Of) course I didn’t! It just hit me, but I haven’t scored in a long time so I needed one of them.”

Salah missed a good chance in the second half and so did Solly March, who had scored twice in the earlier game, for Brighton. Late in the game, Mitoma controlled the ball on the half volley before firing home a dramatic winner.

Reacting to the goal on BBC Radio, former England captain Terry Butcher said: “A goal fitting to win a cup tie like this.

“A free kick to the far post, (Pervis) Estupinan does well to put it back across goal and then it’s a great finish from Mitoma. It’s a sumptuous finish. What a winner!”

The 25-year-old Japanese winger has either scored or contributed assists in eight of his last 11 appearances for the Seagulls in all competitions. That form has seen him bag six goals and two assists.

Said Dunk: “It’s nice to have him in our side, I’m glad I’m not chasing him. He’s a top player and he’s come out of nowhere. We are lucky to have him in our team and hopefully we can keep him. We’ll take it game by game.” REUTERS