Leandro Trossard’s hat-trick helped Brighton & Hove Albion and Liverpool draw 3-3 in a nail-biting Premier League match at Anfield.
In head coach Roberto De Zerbi’s debut, Trossard’s two goals in the first 17 minutes gave the visitors the lead.
Before the interval, Roberto Firmino of Liverpool made a comeback, and the Brazilian striker tied the score early in the second half of a thrilling Premier League match.
Adam Webster’s own goal gave Liverpool the lead for the first time, but with seven minutes left in regulation, Trossard scored all three goals to give Brighton a well-earned draw.
After defeating Trent Alexander-Arnold, Trossard gave De Zerbi the perfect start to his reign by converting a deft flick from Danny Welbeck with his left foot from inside the box.
Welbeck and Trossard both had excellent saves from Alisson, but he was unable to stop the latter from doubling his score following Alexander-mistake Arnold’s with a precise left-foot finish.
Mohamed Salah was stopped by Robert Sanchez, but the Egyptian striker’s touch allowed Firmino to score into an empty net. The goal was given after a VAR assessment for offside.
Taking a feed from halftime replacement Luis Daz, Firmino displayed excellent poise to equalise on the break nine minutes into the second half. He then used some ingenuity to round Lewis Dunk before delivering the finish.
When Sanchez paid the price for flapping at Alexander-corner Arnold’s and the unlucky Webster turned into his own net, the reversal appeared to be complete.
However, Brighton remained a serious danger, and after Alisson denied Welbeck, Trossard expertly finished a left-wing cross to complete his hat trick.
In the dying moments, Alexander-Arnold made a superb save from Sanchez, but Liverpool was unable to secure the victory.
By halftime, it was evident that Jurgen Klopp had had enough. He moved quickly to replace the unproductive Fabio Carvalho with Luis Diaz, a youngster who had struggled on the left wing.
This gave Liverpool instant momentum, and Diaz’s speed and cunning created their second goal of the game. On the break, he found himself one-on-one with Joel Veltman and squared to Firmino for another cool finish to make it 2-2.
The third goal came from Alexander-famous Arnold’s dead ball, which deceived an underwhelming Sanchez in the area and deflected off Brighton defender Adam Webster to make it three.
As Alexander-Arnold continues to display symptoms of mental tiredness, Liverpool’s defence is still far from its best. Alisson made another incredible save to prevent Welbeck from heading in a leveller.
Lately, it became clear when Kaoru Mitoma’s cross slipped past Virgil van Dijk, allowing Trossard to complete his hat-trick in spite of the goalkeeper’s best attempts.
Perhaps a late gamble that saw Darwin Nunez substitute Thiago resulted in a tie for Brighton rather than the desired outcome, with the points being split at Anfield.
