{"id":4357,"date":"2025-12-14T05:35:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T05:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/12\/14\/salah-assists-ekitikes-second-as-liverpool-beat-brighton-in-epl\/"},"modified":"2025-12-14T05:35:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T05:35:16","slug":"salah-assists-ekitikes-second-as-liverpool-beat-brighton-in-epl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/12\/14\/salah-assists-ekitikes-second-as-liverpool-beat-brighton-in-epl\/","title":{"rendered":"Salah assists Ekitike\u2019s second as Liverpool beat Brighton in EPL"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>Mohamed Salah came off the bench to assist the second of Hugo Ekitike\u2019s double as Liverpool returned to winning ways.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Mohamed Salah set up a goal in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/liveblog\/2025\/12\/13\/live-liverpool-vs-brighton-premier-league-mohamed-salah\">Liverpool\u2019s 2-0 win<\/a> against Brighton as he returned to action after an explosive outburst cast doubt over his future at the Premier League champions.<\/p>\n<p>The Egypt forward, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2025\/12\/12\/liverpool-boss-slot-to-meet-salah-amid-transfer-tension\">subject of intense scrutiny<\/a> in the build-up to the game at Anfield, came off the substitutes\u2019 bench to huge cheers in the 26th minute on Saturday, replacing injured defender Joe Gomez.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2025\/12\/13\/alaves-vs-real-madrid-la-liga-team-news-start-time-lineups\">Real Madrid\u2019s trip to Alaves the latest crunch game for beleaguered coach<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2025\/12\/12\/afghans-olympic-hope-for-taliban-dialogue-to-spark-womens-rights-u-turn\">Ongoing Taliban-Olympic talks hope to prompt Afghan women\u2019s rights U-turn<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2025\/12\/12\/elite-cheats-slip-through-net-as-anti-doping-system-has-stalled-says-aiu\">Elite cheats slip through net as athletics anti-doping system has \u2018stalled\u2019<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2025\/12\/11\/olympic-ski-champion-michelle-gisin-airlifted-after-downhill-crash\">Olympic ski champion Michelle Gisin airlifted after Swiss crash<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>The home team, whose title defence has collapsed after a shocking run of results, were leading 1-0 at the time, with France forward Hugo Ekitike on the scoresheet after just 46 seconds.<\/p>\n<p>Brighton squandered a number of opportunities to level, and Ekitike scored again with half an hour to go to give Liverpool breathing space.<\/p>\n<p>Salah accused Liverpool of throwing him \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2025\/12\/7\/mohamed-salah-claims-he-has-been-thrown-under-the-bus-by-liverpool\">under the bus<\/a>\u201d after he was left on the bench for last week\u2019s 3-3 draw at Leeds \u2013 the third match in a row that he had been named among the replacements.<\/p>\n<p>He also said that he had no relationship with manager Arne Slot.<\/p>\n<p>Salah was omitted from the midweek Champions League trip to Inter Milan, which <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2025\/12\/9\/liverpool-snatch-win-at-inter-milan-with-late-penalty-from-szoboszlai\">Liverpool won 1-0<\/a>, posting a picture on social media of himself alone in the gym.<\/p>\n<p>Slot said at Friday\u2019s pre-match news conference that he would speak to the forward later in the day, adding, \u201cI have no reasons [in] not wanting him to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"salah-not-made-to-wait-long-for-substitute-role-to-delight-of-liverpool-faithful\">Salah not made to wait long for substitute role to delight of Liverpool faithful<\/h2>\n<p>There was feverish speculation in the build-up to Saturday\u2019s match about what role Salah would play, with the winger named on the bench.<\/p>\n<p>Liverpool, who had won just two of 10 Premier League matches before the Brighton game, made a lightning start, taking the lead in the first minute when Joe Gomez set up Ekitike, who thumped the ball past Bart Verbruggen.<\/p>\n<p>Salah entered the fray about 20 minutes before half-time when Gomez was withdrawn.<\/p>\n<p>Brighton\u2019s Diego Gomez squandered a good chance to level early in the second half, striking the ball against the outside of a post, and Brajan Gruda also went close as the home crowd chanted Salah\u2019s name.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4171507\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4171507\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2251735294-1765643268.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C520&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"Hugo Ekitike of Liverpool heads the ball to score his team's second goal\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4171507\">Hugo Ekitike of Liverpool heads the ball to score his team\u2019s second goal [Carl Recine\/Getty Images]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Liverpool doubled their lead in the 60th minute when Ekitike scored his second, nodding home Salah\u2019s corner.<\/p>\n<p>Salah himself went close in stoppage time after he was set up by Federico Chiesa, but he blazed over.<\/p>\n<p>The win lifts Slot\u2019s men to sixth in the table ahead of the later kickoffs on Saturday, easing the pressure on the beleaguered manager.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"salah-departure-from-liverpool-for-afcon-or-for-good\">Salah departure from Liverpool for AFCON or for good?<\/h2>\n<p>Salah, who signed a new two-year contract at Liverpool in April, is about to depart for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).<\/p>\n<p>The length of his absence depends on how far Egypt go in the competition in Morocco, with the final taking place on January 18.<\/p>\n<p>The forward, who has been <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2025\/12\/9\/liverpools-mohamed-salah-a-transfer-target-for-saudi-arabia\">linked with a move<\/a> to the lucrative Saudi Pro League, had invited his family to the Brighton game as speculation swirled over his future.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will be in Anfield to say goodbye to the fans and go to the Africa Cup,\u201d he told reporters last week. \u201cI don\u2019t know what is going to happen when I am there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Salah, third in Liverpool\u2019s all-time scoring charts with 250 goals, has won two Premier League titles and one Champions League crown during his spell on Merseyside.<\/p>\n<p>He scored 29 Premier League goals last season as Liverpool romped to a 20th English league title, but has managed just four league goals this season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mohamed Salah came off the bench to assist the second of Hugo Ekitike\u2019s double as Liverpool returned to winning ways. Mohamed Salah set up a goal in Liverpool\u2019s 2-0 win against Brighton as he returned to action after an explosive outburst cast doubt over his future at the Premier League champions. The Egypt forward, the &#8230; <a title=\"Salah assists Ekitike\u2019s second as Liverpool beat Brighton in EPL\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/12\/14\/salah-assists-ekitikes-second-as-liverpool-beat-brighton-in-epl\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Salah assists Ekitike\u2019s second as Liverpool beat Brighton in EPL\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}