Brighton were better than us, admits Liverpool boss Gareth Taylor | OneFootball

Gareth Taylor, the Liverpool head coach

Liverpool let a 2-0 lead slip against Brighton and Hove Albion in the semi-final of the Women’s FA Cup.

Nadine Noordam scored in injury time to seal a 3-2 win at St Helens, ensuring Brighton will be in their first-ever Women’s FA Cup final.

It was the second week running that Liverpool had lost to a winner in added time, following Rebecca Knaak’s goal for Manchester City last Sunday.

And Reds head coach Gareth Taylor admitted to the club’s official website that the result was “tough to take” – but added that Brighton had been the better side in the second half.

“We weren’t great second half,” he said, going on to criticise refereeing decisions that he felt demonstrated “inconsistency”.

“I think we started the game really well – conceded a poor goal obviously, from being 2-0 up.

“Brighton were better than us second half, they had numerous corners where we looked vulnerable and we concede from too many corners.”

Gareth Taylor: Brighton put us under pressure

And reflecting on how the momentum shifted in the second half as Liverpool found themselves chasing the game, he added: “They just gained territory, they got to grips with how we were playing, put us under a lot of pressure.

“We then have to go a little bit more direct and they regain possession and start to hurt us with the ball, and we start to suffer a little bit physically and they gain momentum.

“We changed things by bringing Aurelie [Csillag] on and trying to get more pressure to the ball and then allow us to maintain possession.

“It was a lot of control from Brighton in the second half, more than we would have liked.”

Liverpool have one more Women’s Super League game left this season, and currently sit second from bottom. They face Arsenal next Saturday as the Gunners seek an automatic route to the UEFA Women’s Champions League rather than having to go through qualification.