WELCOME to the Premier League, Roberto De Zerbi – this is really not a place for the fainthearted.
Top-flight football in England can be cruel, crazy, unpredictable and delirious and the new Brighton boss discovered all of that and more in 90 madcap minutes.
The Italian went through the full tumult of emotions in his first match in English football as Brighton took a 2-0 first-half lead, seemingly threw it away and then deservedly snatched a point at Anfield.
After thinking an Adam Webster own goal had condemned his valiant side to a harsh defeat, De Zerbi was soon celebrating wildly as Leandro Trossard scored a stunning hat-trick – just the third by an opposing player at Anfield after Peter Ndlovu and Andrey Arshavin.
It is a result that means Liverpool are entering full-blown crisis mode as the misery continues for Jurgen Klopp and beleaguered Trent Alexander-Arnold.
It is a result that sees the Red sink further behind leaders Arsenal – they are 11 points off the pace – as their worst Prem start under the German continues.
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To highlight how well Brighton have done in this stop-start season – and just how poor Liverpool have performed – they remain four points above Klopp’s misfiring troops.
Normally a change of manager happens when a team is on the slide or results have gone horribly wrong.
But Graham Potter decided the chance to manage Chelsea was too good to turn down and he has left newbie De Zerbi – who only started work on September 20 – with a squad that was full of confidence and belief.
In his time at Serie A Sassuolo and then in Ukraine with Shakhtar Donetsk, the Italian used his tried and trusted 4-2-3-1 formation.
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But Brighton – who were used to a variety of formations under innovative Potter – went with a more defensive 3-5-2 for this trip to Merseyside.
De Zerbi, wearing white trainers and a black jumper and trousers, promised he would deliver front-foot, attacking and brave football.
But even the 43-year-old could not have imagined his starting XI would follow his instructions so closely and start in such an electrifying manner.
Less than four minutes into his new tenure and Brighton took the lead thanks to Trossard’s brilliant left-footed strike, his third goal of this season.
Captain Jordan Henderson – starting his first match for the club in over a month – was initially at fault for failing to clear the ball properly.
And his calls for a foul when he was cleverly nudged from behind by Danny Welbeck were ignored by referee Andy Madley.
Quick thinking and with quick-feet, Belgian forward Trossard latched on to the pass from Pascal Gross and created the space to fire past Alisson.
On the eve of the contest, Alexander-Arnold had been the subject of much debate since being left out of England’s Nations League squad.
But Trossard had the measure of the full-back and the sight of the under-fire Liverpool star losing his footing and slipping to his knees in despair as Brighton scored would have only given his critics more ammunition.
Right now, Alexander-Arnold cannot do anything right it would seem defensively and he was at fault as the visitors doubled their lead.
Welbeck – who arguably should have scored with a six-yard header on 11 minutes – won possession off TAA’s poor clearance and he eventually found team-mate Solly March, who in turn fed in Trossard.
Onside and with space to shoot, Trossard was not missing from this range and Alisson was once again unable to stop the powerful left-footed drive.
For Brighton, who had started magnificently, this was thoroughly deserved. Liverpool were sluggish and shell-shocked.
Trossard became the first non-Liverpool player to score a first-half brace at Anfield in the league since Wigan’s Amr Zaki’s two goals in October 2008.
In the build-up, Klopp had demanded energy, intensity, passion and flying tackles from his stars but that visibly lacking.
Mo Salah thought he had pulled one back on the half an hour mark but his strike diverted wide as it flicked off the outstretched leg of goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.
Nothing seemed to be going Liverpool’s way – that was until a key intervention by the Stockley Park boffins.
Henderson lofted a pass to Salah and the Egyptian cleverly located Roberto Firmino who applied the finish over the diving Lewis Dunk.
The assistant ref flagged for offside but VAR replays showed Salah was level with Webster and the decision was overturned as Liverpool reduced the arrears.
The introduction of Luis Diaz at half time for the unproductive Fabio Carvalho was the right call as he was involved in both of Liverpool’s second-half goals.
From a quick counter-attack, the Colombian found Firmino who controlled the pass with his right foot and then shot with his left to silence any enthusiastic Brighton fans on 54 minutes.
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And Diaz made a nuisance of himself as Sanchez misjudged the inswinging corner on 63 minutes, missing his punch as the ball then bounced off Webster.
It looked like Brighton were heading back to the South Coast with at least a point but Trossard changed all that, smashing his fourth career hat-trick in front of a disbelieving and disgruntled Kop.
Read how the action unfolded with our live blog below…
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
