Salah stars as Liverpool beat Brighton to progress to the fifth round of the FA Cup

Liverpool advanced to the fifth round of the FA Cup by defeating Brighton & Hove Albion 3-0 at Anfield on Saturday night.

The visitors had the first chance of the night in the 10th minute, as Ferdi Kadioglu tried his luck from range, but his effort flew straight into the gloves of Alisson Becker.

At the other end, Curtis Jones almost gave Liverpool the lead when he was found by Mohamed Salah at the edge of the area, but his curling effort took a slight deflection and went just wide of the post.

In the 35th minute, Cody Gakpo thought he had given the Reds the lead after he got onto Dominik Szoboszlai’s inviting cross from a free kick, but the Dutchman was denied by the offside flag.

Moments later, the hosts had two chances in quick succession to take the lead. First, Salah fired his effort straight at Jason Steele before Milos Kerkez forced Steele into a smart save.

In the 42nd minute, Jones broke the deadlock after he volleyed home Kerkez’s cross to give Liverpool the deserved lead.

At the other, the Seagulls could’ve drawn level immediately on two occasions. First, Jack Hinshelwood’s header from a corner flew over the bar before Diego Gomez forced Alisson to a brilliant save just before the break.

Shortly after the restart, Alisson almost gifted Brighton the equaliser after his first-half heroics when he delayed his clearance and it came off Gomez, but the ball rolled past the post.

In the 56th minute, Szoboszlai doubled the Reds’ lead after he met Salah’s pass first time, capping off a brilliant move.

Liverpool were awarded a penalty in the 68th minute after Salah was brought down in the area by Kadioglu. Salah stepped up for the spot kick, and he converted beyond Steele.

Moments later, Kadioglu skied his effort from range before Kaoru Mitoma fired his shot straight at Alisson.

In the 81st minute, Rio Ngumoha thought he had scored the host’s fourth after he found the bottom corner with a curling effort, but he was offside in the build-up, and the goal was chalked off.