Brighton vs Liverpool: Mohamed Salah’s penalty secures a classic title-chasing victory that ticks off another step

Is it too soon to start counting down? Liverpool got their balance back this afternoon, recovering from their New Year stumble, grinding out a 1-0 win at Brighton and Hove Albion that restores their lead over Manchester City to seven points. At least until Monday night.

If Liverpool do this 16 more times this season - or even just 15 - then they lift the Premier League title this year. Yes it is only 12 January but this is the time of year when we stop adding games up and start ticking them off. The time when performance goes out of the window and everything is hung on results instead. That is why there was so much jubilation from the away end at full time, such a clear sense that the great enterprise that is Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool is back on track.

This was a classic title-chasing victory: away from home, narrow, nervy, never in total control, and reliant on a dollop of contingency to get them over the line. If Liverpool do win it then this will be singled out as one of the hinge moments. When the stumble could have continued, they could have dropped more points and let City make up another stride towards them. That was certainly how it felt in the first half, as Liverpool struggled to pick their way around the Brighton defence. But Mohammed Salah won a penalty early in the second half, converted it, and now Liverpool can breathe again. When they needed to win more than ever before, they found a way.

But the other way to look at it is that we are not in the run-in yet, not even close. There is far too much football left to play for Liverpool to get distracted by the finishing line. Performance is still what matters most. And if Liverpool are to maintain their lead at the top of the table then they may have to play better than this. Because for much of this game they looked pedestrian, and it was only Salah’s ingenuity and Pascal Gross’ clumsiness that let them back in. Without that penalty, which almost came out of nowhere, things might have gone very differently.

So how much does it matter this evening that Liverpool’s first half was unimpressive? Because if Liverpool wanted an instant reaction in the first half, the chance to draw a line under Manchester City and Wolves as quickly as possible, they did not get it. You could say that Liverpool were patient, unflustered, unhurried, shutting the context out of their minds and playing their game. Or you could say that they were slow out of the blocks and never made up for it.

Because the pattern of the first half was clear quickly enough. Brighton dug in, their 4-5-1 immaculately arranged: the defence not too far from David Button in goal, the midfield not too far in front of them. There was no space in between the lines, and even less in behind the back four. So even though Liverpool had all four of their top forwards playing, the big three plus Xherdan Shaqiri, the only way in was down the sides.

This made for football that was methodical, predictable and preventable, not exactly the traits that make Liverpool so compelling at their best. And for much of the first half they did look uncharacteristically monotonous. They would just go from side to side, one full-back to the other, Jordan Henderson hitting one telegraphed pass after another. They made two half-chances, both from full-back crosses. First Andy Robertson’s cross, which Roberto Firmino could not get quite enough on. Then Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross, from the opposite side, that Shaqiri could only skim his header the wrong side of the post.

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With every ticking minute Liverpool looked worse, as if the pressure and the onus on them to win was starting to weigh them down. And even though Brighton were camped into their own half, happy to defend, they had a threat on the break thanks to Jurgen Locadia. He started a move that saw Glenn Murray escape stand-in centre-back Fabinho but head harmlessly wide. Going into half-time it felt as if these openings would start to come more often, the higher the stakes, the more Liverpool had to put in.

But then one brief collision of bodies changed everything, and suddenly all the fears and frustrations of the first half were burnt away. Salah wriggled his way into the penalty area and got the dangerous side of Pascal Gross. Gross grabbed his arm, swung out a leg, and eventually did enough to trip Salah up. It was a clear foul, but a preventable one, and a simple penalty. Salah finished with the emphasis of a man who had not scored a goal for two weeks and was tired of waiting.

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With that goal the dynamic changed. Liverpool had the game where they wanted it now, and Brighton no longer did. They were forced to start attacking for the first time, although that never comes easily to them and they never really looked like their hearts were in it. Dale Stephens fired wide from distance, Locadia forced Allison to tip one round the post, but that was it. None of their attacks ever looked like coming to anything.

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Once James Milner came on for Shaqiri Liverpool were back in control, and in truth were far likelier to double their lead. Wijnaldum and Firmino went just wide, but Liverpool never needed a second goal. They had the three points, which is what they came for, or at least most of it