Brighton & Hove Albion captain Lewis Dunk scored with a deft volley to cancel out Mohamed Salah's brace for Liverpool as the Seagulls came from behind to grab a pulsating 2-2 draw in the Premier League on Sunday.
The home team took the lead in the 20th minute through Simon Adingra but Salah levelled in the 40th minute, concluding a flowing move with a trademark left-foot finish.
The Egyptian star gave his side the lead from the penalty spot in first-half stoppage time after Dominik Szoboszlai was pulled down by Pascal Gross, and Salah struck his shot to the left of keeper Bart Verbruggen.
Brighton got the equaliser in the 78th minute as defender Dunk volleyed home Solli March's free-kick to ensure his side stayed sixth in the table on 16 points, one behind third-placed Liverpool.
The result was a fresh setback for Jurgen Klopp's team in another disappointing finish one week after allowing a last-gasp winner in their controversial loss at Tottenham.
Klopp had called for a replay of that game after VAR failed to award his team a goal that had been wrongfully disallowed for offside and Liverpool finished the match with nine men and conceded a stoppage-time winner.
This time it was a mistake by Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk that proved costly for the visitors.
Van Dijk's careless pass near his own area was intercepted by Adingra in the 20th minute and the winger rolled the ball past the stranded Alisson Becker in the Liverpool goal from 25 yards out.
Then it was Brighton's turn to make mistakes to help Liverpool turn the game around.
Dunk’s pass in midfield was intercepted and Liverpool launched a quick counterattack that saw Darwin Nunez get the ball on the edge of the box. Nunez rolled it toward Harvey Elliott, who let it roll to Salah, who slotted a first-time finish into the net.
An even bigger blunder by goalkeeper Verbruggen less than five minutes later led to Liverpool's second. Verbruggen’s pass to Pascal Gross in the Brighton box put his teammate under pressure as Szoboszlai pounced on the ball, and Gross had to drag his opponent down to prevent him from having a clear shot on goal.
Salah calmly converted from the spot to give Liverpool the half-time lead.
Adingra had a chance to equalise shortly after the break but drew a good save from Alisson, and Liverpool's Ryan Gravenberch had a great opportunity to extend the lead when the ball fell to him at the back post after another quick attack at the other end. But with the empty net at his mercy, Gravenberch hit his effort against the bar from close range.
Shortly afterward, Brighton levelled and shared points, much to the dismay of the Reds.
After the match, Brighton captain Dunk said his team showed great fighting spirit.
"I think we were the better side throughout and then we had a funny five minutes. We have got to be better than that. We have shown great character to come back and get the draw," he told Sky Sports.
"Sloppiness from us. I gave the ball away cheaply and they capitalised on that. We have to keep improving, keep learning and get better. It's just that final bit that the moment. We are a little bit off."
Liverpool captain van Dijk bemoaned the lost opportunity to register a come-from-behind win.
"We came here to win. I think we had opportunities to do so and in the end a draw, after a difficult game. Quite open at times. Quite even but looking at our team, we had opportunities to win." he told Sky Sports.
Van Dijk said the match showed how important Salah is to his team's fortunes. Unfortunately on Sunday, even a brace from the star was not enough.
"He is a very important member of the team on the pitch and off the pitch. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to get the win."
