The Media Review: Albion come from behind to beat Liverpool

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How the newspapers and websites reported Monday's thrilling win over the champions.

Nick Szczepanik

2025-05-20T22:45+01:00

18 Jack Hinshelwood wheels away in celebration after scoring Albion's winner. 📷 Paul Hazlewood.

Albion’s 3-2 victory over Premier League champions Liverpool was so eventful that some of the reporters entered the post-match press conference wondering out loud whether they had got the goals in the right order or left out some key piece of action in their first-edition pieces.

Top professionals that they are, they need not have worried, and their rewrites for later editions were even better. Sam Dean summed it all up in the Daily Telegraph: “By the final moments of this encounter on the south coast you could tell which team had spent the last week in Dubai. Liverpool came to play and to enjoy themselves, and understandably so, yet they met a Brighton side that came to win.

“The strange circumstances of this match — one team in the hunt for European places, the other rightly luxuriating in their Premier League title victory — made for a wonderful evening of football. There were five goals, some of them superb, countless chances and a remarkable miss by the finest forward in the league.

“’A great game of football,’” said [Liverpool manager Arne] Slot. ‘Two teams that wanted to play. No time-wasting, no diving. Some brilliant individual moments. It was a joy to watch.’”

Dean added, “In the end there were also three points for Brighton, who twice trailed to the champions but twice fought back, before then hitting a late winner through substitute Jack Hinshelwood. It put Fabian Hurzeler’s side in a commanding position in the race for eighth place, which means their hopes of returning to European competition remain alive.

“How pleasing it was for the Brighton faithful that Hinshelwood struck the winning goal. The Premier League is an international division but for a few moments on the south coast it was all about two local lads: Hinshelwood came onto the field along with debutant Harry Howell, another academy product. They are cousins.”

As Alyson Rudd wrote in The Times, “Fabian Hurzeler might be a young manager but he has clearly worked out the art of substitutions with two of the players he brought off the bench scoring soon after their introduction. Brighton’s rivals for that almost-coveted eighth place could not complain that Liverpool were still coasting after sealing the title as Arne Slot’s side more than contributed to a pulsating match.”

On the BBC website Michael Emons pointed out that “The goal from Hinshelwood was the fourth quickest by a substitute in the Premier League this season after he came on with his 17-year-old cousin Harry Howell, who became the youngest Brighton [Premier League] player.”

Jordan Davies of The Sun was slightly more specific: “Brighton’s Jack Hinshelwood stepped off the bench to score an 87th-minute winner in a five-goal comeback thriller at the Amex.

“Kaoru Mitoma had only entered the pitch four minutes earlier, but he was outdone by Hinshelwood whose goal came 78 SECONDS after his introduction. VAR did its best to stifle Hinshelwood’s mad celebrations for a tight offside, but the eighth-placed Seagulls are remarkably still dreaming of Europe on the final day.” And Davies gets the sign-off of the day award for writing: “The Beach Boys got one over the boys on the beach.”

Neil McLeman added to the welter of statistics in The Mirror, writing that “Albion gave the new champions a guard of honour on to the pitch and then the freedom of the Amex Stadium for the opening quarter of this hectic encounter. Harvey Ellliott - from an assist by new right-back Conor Bradley - and Dominic Szoboszlai netted in the first half around Yasin Ayari’s first equaliser.

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Yasin Ayari, Kaoru Mitoma and Jack Hinshelwood all found the target to keep Albion in the hunt for European football next season, as Fabian Hurzeler's men signed off at the Amex with a 3-2 win.

“But Kaoru Mitoma came off the bench to score Brighton’s second goal before a VAR review granted Hinshelwood the late winner with his first touch after it was initially ruled out by an offside flag. Fabian Hurzeler’s side have now scored 14 goals in the last ten minutes of Premier League matches - and Liverpool’s run of 156 games without defeat when leading at the break came to end. The last time was a 4-3 defeat to Bournemouth in December 2016.

“It was a mad match which saw 45 shots - 25 by the home side - and nine saves from Alisson. Hinshelwood and Harry Howell made history by becoming the first cousins to both come on as subs in the same Premier League game. It was a night to remember for them but not Liverpool who have now failed to win any of their three matches since winning their 20th title. But Brighton gave a big boost to their outside chance of returning to European football by going three points clear in eighth place.”

In the Daily Mail, Lewis Steele wrote that “the hero of the night was Hinshelwood in what could be a proud week for his family — his father Adam manages York City in the National League play-offs on Tuesday — to cap off a fabulous comeback win for Fabian Hurzeler's men after Kaoru Mitoma scored an equaliser

“Liverpool took the lead after just nine minutes. Conor Bradley was the architect with the sort of weaving run that would have further eased fans' hurt over [Trent] Alexander-Arnold’s exit.

“The 21-year-old received the ball from a 50-yard sprayed pass from Dominik Szoboszlai, then skipped past challenges from Simon Adingra and Adam Webster before squaring for an Elliott tap-in, his first league strike of a frustrating campaign.

“But the home team soon imposed themselves and were arguably the better side. Danny Welbeck headed just wide with a gilt-edged chance that drew gasps from the Amex Stadium crowd when it was shown on the big screens.

“But the veteran forward soon played a part in Albion’s equaliser, combining with Brajan Gruda to assist Yasin Ayari’s cool strike. Fabian Hurzeler's men continued to play through the champions but found themselves heading in at the break a goal down against the run of play.

“Szoboszlai received the ball wide on the right and caught Bart Verbruggen out with a cross-shot that flew into the far corner. Did he mean it? Only the Hungarian will know.

“The second half was a helter-skelter affair and both teams had chances to score, with the goalkeepers on top form. Alisson denied Welbeck from a free-kick before getting down superbly to make a reflex stop from Gruda’s close-range effort. At the other end, Mohamed Salah had a howler as he pulled a shot wide from six yards after fine work from Cody Gakpo.

“But Brighton finally equalised again on 69 minutes with Kaoru Mitoma scoring a fine volley with one of his first touches, just four minutes after entering as a substitute. Brighton never gave up trying, though, and Hinshelwood provided the goods after Matt O'Riley's cross. Do they still have hopes of another European tour? Well, never say never.”