Liverpool rocked by Brighton’s late fightback
BRIGHTON: Brighton’s Jack Hinshelwood sealed a dramatic 3-2 victory against Liverpool on Monday to leave the Premier League champions without a win since clinching the title. Arne Slot’s side took the lead through Harvey Elliott’s early opener before Yasin Ayari equalized at the Amex Stadium. Dominik Szoboszlai restored Liverpool’s advantage just before the interval, but Brighton staged a late fightback as Kaoru Mitoma levelled before Hinshelwood came off the bench to net with his first touch. Liverpool have taken just one point from their three matches following the title-clinching rout of Tottenham on April 27. The Reds have lost at Brighton and Chelsea and squandered a two-goal lead in a draw with Arsenal since their record-equalling 20th English crown was confirmed They can now look forward to receiving the Premier League trophy in Sunday’s season finale against FA cup winners Crystal Palace at Anfield before an open-top bus parade through the city 24 hours later. Slot had admitted that motivating the champions for the final two matches of the season was a tricky task and his fears were confirmed by this sloppy display. Slot’s players had a celebratory trip to Dubai this week and only returned to training on Friday, while the Reds boss was seen partying in Ibiza for several days, as they soaked in a title victory secured in April. “Did you see me on social media!” Slot said with a laugh in reply to a question about how focused he had been on the Brighton game. After being given a guard of honor by Brighton’s players before kick-off, Liverpool initially showed signs of rebuking the doubters who claimed their minds were elswhere. Ahead of his widely-expected move to Real Madrid when his contract expires in the