Welbeck’s double hands Liverpool their 10th defeat of the season | OneFootball

Liverpool suffered a 2-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League at Amex Stadium on Saturday, thanks to Danny Welbeck’s brace.

The hosts drew the first blood in the 14th minute, as Ferdi Kadioglu picked out Valentin Gomez at the far post, whose header set up Welbeck for a simple finish.

Liverpool could’ve responded immediately via Cody Gakpo, but he didn’t get his shot away quickly enough.

At the other end, Gomez squandered a glorious opportunity to double the Seagulls’ lead after he met Yankuba Minteh’s cross, but he headed well over the bar.

In the 22nd minute, Alexis Mac Allister went close to drawing Liverpool level after he met Dominik Szoboszlai’s cross, but Verbruggen kept out his header before Szoboszlai sent his free kick wide.

On the half-hour mark, Milos Kerkez restored parity for the Reds after he pounced on a defensive error from Lewis Dunk to chip Verbruggen.

Moments after the restart, Kadioglu tried his luck from a distance, but Giorgi Mamardashvili denied him, and Mats Wieffer headed wide from the resulting corner.

In the 56th minute, Brighton retook the lead after Jack Hinshelwood squared across Minteh’s pass at the back post for Welbeck to finish beyond Mamardashvili.

At the other end, Curtis Jones thought he had restored parity for the Reds, but his curling effort was parried away by Verbruggen.

Moments later, Minteh had the chance to double Brighton’s lead in the area, but his strike was kept out by Mamardashvili before Hinshelwood miscued his effort from close range.

In the closing stages of the game, Verbruggen made two big saves, denying Gakpo and Szoboszlai to seal the victory for the Seagulls.

The victory sees Brighton strengthen their push for a European place while Liverpool waste the chance to move into the top four.