Match Reports

Report: Liverpool 4 Albion 0

By Alex Stedman • 13 May 2018

  • Salah gives Liverpool the lead
  • Lovren heads in a second for the hosts
  • Solanke and Robertson find the net after the break
  • Seagulls end Premier League campaign in 15th position

Brighton & Hove Albion fell to a 4-0 defeat against Liverpool on the final day of the season at Anfield.

First-half goals from Mohamed Salah and Dejan Lovren were added to by Dominic Solanke and Andy Robertson in the second period as the curtain came down on Albion’s first Premier League campaign. 

Chris Hughton made four changes to the side that had faced Manchester City on Wednesday night, with Ezequiel Schelotto, Beram Kayal, Solly March and Jurgen Locadia coming in for Bruno, Pascal Gross, Jose Izquierdo and Glenn Murray. 

The first openings of the contest fell to the home side - Roberto Firmino’s shot was well-blocked by Shane Duffy on the edge of the Albion penalty area, before Jordan Henderson fizzed a shot wide of Maty Ryan’s right-hand post. 

Solanke then nearly profited from Duffy’s misjudged clearance, but Ryan was off his line well to smother the ball before the forward. 

Salah then went down under a challenge from the Irish defender as he entered the area, but referee Kevin Friend waved away the protests before Sadio Mane’s shot from close range was blocked by Ryan at his near post. 

March reached the byline on 22 minutes, but his clever cross couldn’t find an Albion shirt in the middle, and the hosts then took the lead four minutes later.

Trent Alexander-Arnold drove towards Albion’s backline, before Solanke picked up possession on the edge of the area and Salah then turned sharply and fired into the bottom corner past Ryan. 

Mane then got in-behind and squared for Salah, but as the ball was rolled into the path of the Egyptian, Ryan did superbly to parry his effort before Duffy blocked the resulting shot equally as impressively on the line.

Georginio Wijnaldum then drew Ryan into a more routine stop ten minutes before the interval, and Firmino fired over at the far post as the home side continued to keep the Seagulls penned predominantly in their own half.

Kayal broke forward and squared for March, forcing Loris Karius into his first save of the afternoon, before Lovren doubled the home side’s advantage on 40 minutes. 

A corner found its way back out to Andy Robertson on the left, and the Scotsman’s whipped cross was headed into the corner by the Croatian central defender. 

Firmino forced Ryan into a stop down to his right five minutes after the restart, before Solanke gave Liverpool a further grip on the game after 53 minutes. 

March’s attempted cross was blocked, allowing the home side to break, and Salah eventually laid the ball into the path of the young forward who fired into the roof of the net.

Murray and Gross then replaced Locadia and Kayal with just over half an hour left to play, before Ryan was alert to tip Firmino’s close-range effort over the bar. 

Conor Goldson replaced Duffy with 20 minutes remaining, after the Irishman had taken a heavy fall a few moments earlier, and Adam Lallana came on for Mane as the home side made their first change.

Murray then met March’s cross at the far post but couldn’t find a teammate with his knockdown, and Salah was replaced by Ben Woodburn in the final moments of the game, with Danny Ings also coming on for Firmino.

There was still time for Robertson to fire home via a deflection before the end of the contest, and Friend then brought the afternoon and Albion’s season to a close.

Albion line-up: Ryan; Schelotto, Dunk ©, Duffy (Goldson 71), Bong; Kayal (Gross 57), Stephens, Propper; Knockaert, Locadia (Murray 57), March.

Subs not used: Krul, Bruno, Suttner, Ulloa.

Liverpool line-up: Karius; Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson ©, Wijnaldum, Salah (Woodburn 84), Mane (Lallana 74), Firmino (Ings 84), Solanke. 

Subs not used: Mignolet, Clyne, Klavan, Moreno.