The relief in the Liverpool celebrations illustrated how hard they had to fight to earn victory on what could prove a pivotal day in the Premier League title race.
Jurgen Klopp’s celebratory fist-pumps towards the Kop had extra vigour after he finally got one over on Brighton’s Roberto de Zerbi, who has been heavily discussed as a replacement for the German in the summer.
Klopp remained measured in his post-match interviews, rightly insisted nothing will be won or lost on a day where title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal meet.
Nevertheless, Liverpool know they need to keep winning and Klopp, not for the first time, had Mohamed Salah to thank for clinching victory.
Salah had 12 shots against Brighton – the most shots attempted by a player in a Premier League match since Manchester United’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic against Burnley in October 2016 – having missed a flurry of chances before half-time.
But the Liverpool talisman was not to be denied, retaining his composure in spite of the previous misses to steer in what proved to be the winner.
