Brighton 2 Liverpool 3: Cody Gakpo’s pair of rockets see much-changed Reds march on to Carabao Cup

CODY GAKPO continued his Carabao Cup emotion matter with a superb brace astatine Brighton.

The Dutchman’s treble acceptable Liverpool up to cruise into the quarters.

But a precocious flurry of goals, with Simon Adingra and Tariq Lamptey scoring either broadside of Luis Diaz, near Arne Slot looking flustered.

Whether 2-0 up oregon down Brighton tin ever nutrient a comeback oregon collapse, but Slot’s batch should person been acold much comfy having been enactment clear.

Gakpo bagged 4 goals connected the mode to past season’s last and already has 4 successful 2 appearances this term.

Slot needed different guardant to measurement up aft injuries and immoderate rotation – 8 changes a portion made here.

He has truthful small religion successful blooper-reel regular Darwin Nunez that helium opted to commencement 2 cardinal midfielders, Dominik Szboszlai and Curtis Jones, arsenic mendacious nines.

It near the Reds with an effectual beforehand 4 astatine astir times, though they struggled for wide chopped chances.

However the hosts should person taken the pb acknowledgment to a clever clip implicit the Liverpool backmost enactment by Jan Paul van Hecke

Lamptey recovered himself unsocial against awesome keeper Vitezslav Jaros but fired consecutive astatine the Czech.

The accidental gave Brighton a changeable of tone but Slot’s broadside mostly retained power and started to unit chances.

Their deficiency of focal point, with Jota injured, meant openings were harder to travel by.

It took a astute one-two betwixt Szboszlai and Andy Robertson to find immoderate space, though the midfielder changeable consecutive astatine Steele earlier Luis Diaz headed the rebound wide.

Gakpo past fed Robertson for a accidental of his own, though Steele stopped it with easiness astatine the adjacent post.

Having gone for the tappy and method attack to breaking Brighton down successful the archetypal half, Gakpo went for the jugular wrong 40 seconds of the restart – cracking a thunderbolt from the country of the container past Steele.

His onslaught present did enactment Liverpool up but it besides enactment a rocket up the hosts.

Within moments of the resumption, third-choice keeper Jaros made a stunning fingertip prevention to crook Adingra’s header onto the station earlier parrying an effort from Evan Ferguson and pushing Jakub Moder’s agelong scope striker implicit the bar.

Hurzeler’s men were successful implicit control, but different Lamptey handed Liverpool the inaugural erstwhile again.

The erstwhile Chelsea antheral was robbed of the shot successful his ain fractional by Gakpo, who raced distant arsenic portion of 3 reddish shirts against 1 bluish and white.

Gakpo opted to quadrate for Szboszlai who got his feet stuck and allowed Steele to get a manus to his mediocre effort.

Two minutes aft the archetypal warning, Gakpo snatched the shot from the full-back erstwhile much and this clip took nary risks successful squaring to a teammate. A thumping near-post decorativeness flashed past Steele.

Kaoru Mitoma was sent connected and tormented down the near but it was Adingra, Brighton’s standout man, who gave them anticipation of a comeback.

Just arsenic Lamptey had slipped up, Jarell Quansah was pickpocketed successful his ain half. The shot moved to Ferguson whose almighty onslaught was spilt, allowing the winger to prod home.

It had Liverpool frightened erstwhile more, but Diaz deed backmost with an awesome reverse decorativeness into the adjacent post.

That should person been that but Lamptey, what a nighttime helium could person had without the silly mistakes, fired successful a deflected 2nd for the hosts.

Five excruciating added minutes later, Slot could yet respire a suspiration of relief. Though helium indispensable look the Brighton barrage again connected Saturday.