That's it from this one
Thanks for your company – it was nip and tuck for most of the 94 minutes, but Liverpool snatched it and, my word, they needed that!
If you fancy some more minute-by-minute action, Ben Fisher is presiding over West Ham v Chelsea – that’s in the men’s Premier League – for your pleasure:
Enjoy that, and see you next time!
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Jepson: “We wanted some fresh legs in midfield and I was delighted it went into the net.”
Fresh legs were what did the job here. If that was her only game in charge, she’s not half made an impact.
Babajide speaks: “The ball just fell to me and I thought I’d just hit it and it worked out. When Neil was here he went for character so we have gelled as a team and it’s been a good atmosphere here. This gives us confidence, we have a lot of work to get done to match the top teams but it’s a work in progress.”
That was the 20-year-old Babajide’s first WSL goal and she can’t wipe the smile off her face! Liverpool rise to sixth, Brighton sink to ninth. I think defeat was harsh on Brighton there; they were the better side in the second half, for me, and a draw was probably about right on the balance of play. But Jepson produced a masterstroke from the bench in introducing Babajide and that, in the end, is often how games are won!
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Full-time: Brighton 0-1 Liverpool
That late goal by the substitute, Rinsola Babajide, gets Liverpool off and running! Crisis, what crisis?
90+4 min: A late chance for Brighton, though! A deep delivery to the back stick is headed across for Buet, who can’t quite get the ball to sit up for her and, on the turn, can’t direct it towards goal! That was surely their final opening.
90+3 min: Liverpool are almost there – Brighton are comfortably at arm’s length as the clock ticks slowly ... or quickly, depending on who you’re following ... down.
90+1 min: Liverpool slow things right down near the Brighton corner flag – game management! – but we’ll see four extra minutes here, so it ain’t quite done yet.
90 min: Gillett had looked so composed today, with hands and feet. She’ll be gutted about that goal when she sees it again.
89 min: Brighton are piling on the pressure now but they’re almost out of time. Have they got one more chance in them? This had seemed for all the world to be fizzling out into a nil-nil.
87 min: Close to an equaliser! Green heads a foot over from Williams’s cross. Liverpool keep their lead and Jepson, the long-serving club stalwart, deserves all the credit here for making such a bold change – which has paid off handsomely!
Goal! Brighton 0-1 Liverpool (Babajide 85)
What a substitution! Sweetman-Kirk tries to make room for a shot on the 18-yard line but a home defender blocks. Babajide, who came on five minutes ago, seizes onto the ball and takes aim from outside the box. It’s not especially well struck but seems to catch Gillett napping. She scurries across her goal but can’t stop the ball nestling in the corner, and Liverpool seem to have won this!
85 min: Now Powell makes a substitution. Brazil, a game runner but who hasn’t had much change out of Robe, is replaced by the Ireland international Sophie Perry.
83 min: Williams heads Clarke’s cross away. Clarke has switched back to the right. She’s been changing flanks constantly but not to the effect that, once or twice, she has threatened.
82 min: That was a pretty attacking change from Jepson. Can Liverpool seize some momentum? Not just yet. Brighton press again but Matthews dispossesses Green.
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80 min: Liverpool make a second sub. Christie Murray, less involved in this half, is replaced by ex-Palace and Millwall player Babajide. She’s a highly-rated speedster who might add a little something in the last knockings.
78 min: Green is fine now and the corner will come in. Once again, an offence is spotted before play is allowed to develop. A touch pedantic, there.
77 min: Preuss deals rather less certainly with a Buet free-kick, punching it against Bradley-Auckland and out for a corner. Green, the Brighton striker, got a knock as she came out to challenge Preuss – and is taking some treatment to her knee now.
75 min: Now here’s Clarke, taking on Barton down the left and making half a yard for the cross. It’s stood up into the six-yard box but Gillett take it cleanly.
74 min: The sun is out now; the rain appears to be abating. Will it bring us a goal? Not a lot has happened in the last 10 minutes.
71 min: I’m struggling to see where either side has the quality to unlock the other at the moment. Liverpool have struggled to involve Clarke since half-time and have not yet given Sweetman-Kirk, who is definitely a danger if afforded service, a kick since she came on.
69 min: Brazil gets another run at Robe but I’m not sure she’s really beaten her once today – the left-back is having a fine game. She does get a throw-in this time, and it’s flicked on towards the penalty spot, but Coombs is there to avert danger again.
66 min: This is definitely Brighton’s half at the moment. They’re asking the questions and the likes of Green, Natkiel and Whelan are far more involved.
64 min: Matthews goes into the book for a late tackle on, I think, Whelan. She can’t really complain, and doesn’t. Buet takes the free-kick and it bobbles around the Liverpool box awhile before Coombs hammers clear.
62 min: Preuss is worked again by a 20-yarder by Brett, who could maybe have caught it better. There’s a little more fizz and tempo to this at the moment.
60 min: Sweetman-Kirk replaces Linnett, who has battled gamely up front with little support, for Liverpool. The newbie is an ex-Evertonian, and a striker of some pedigree.
58 min: Chance for Green! A flowing move, which began with another accurate ball out from Gillett, sees Natkiel work the ball to Whelan, who slips in Green on the left of the area. It’s a good opportunity but Preuss, standing firm, manages to save with her legs from the angle. Brighton’s best opening, by some way.
56 min: That’s a better strike from Barton, the Brighton player wellying one from a similar distance but seeing Preuss get behind it well. That might be their first shot on target. At the other end Charles gets away from Barton on the left but floats her cross too close to Gillett. Christie Murray is then the latest to take an inconsequential pot shot.
54 min: Charles drills well off target from 3o yards for Liverpool. Too many of today’s shots have been speculative so far. At the other end Brighton earn a corner. They take it short and – criminally really – stray offside immediately.
52 min: Brighton are very confident when it comes to playing from the back, and Gillett’s distribution is generally excellent. They almost play themselves into a spot of bother now, but sort it out before Linnett can get too much encouragement.
51 min: It’s a fairly slow start to the half really, though. A bit niggly and stop-start. Perhaps this will be a game won from the bench in which case, as we mentioned earlier, Brighton have rather more options than their visitors.
48 min: Clarke is back on the right and tries to get behind Gibbons, but the Brighton defender does well. The early pressure is coming from the team in red.
46 min: It’s Green, who was whacked on the inside of the leg by Murray’s drilled ball straight after the restart. On a day like this, that’ll sting! She will be back with us though.
Peeeeeep! Liverpool restart us
And almost immediately there’s a Brighton player down in the centre circle ...
OK, we’re soon to get back underway in Crawley. Can one of these teams get their season up and running?
Manchester City won convincingly at Everton on Thursday – read our report here:
Half-time: Brighton 0-0 Liverpool
It’s not been a classic in the damp Sussex weather, although both sides have played some decent stuff and will feel they can push on after the break. Clarke has had the only real chance in open play; she’ll be hoping to use her pace again as spaces open up in the second half.
45 min: Linnett takes down a high pass brilliantly and holds it up well after a purposeful run – but has absolutely no support and eventually is shrugged off the ball. There was absolutely nothing more she could do there really.
43 min: Buet is receiving treatment at the moment, I think to her lower leg, so we have a small hold-up. The rain is coming down at a fair pelt now. She jogs off and will shortly jog back on; she’s made of tough stuff.
40 min: Bradley-Auckland clears smartly after Brighton win possession in midfield and look to send Green away. Can anyone blow this match right open before the interval?
38 min: Clarke has come to life from her new left-sided perch and now wriggles to the byline brilliantly, beating two or three players before slipping the ball back to Linnett, who then can’t quite find Christie Murray. Clarke is definitely the most dangerous-looking player on this pitch; nobody else really has her direct threat.
37 min: Clarke, this time out on the left, finds space to run into and sees Barton cut out her cross for a corner. It’s taken quickly but Christie Murray, drilling wide from 15 yards after receiving the ball and turning, wastes the chance.
35 min: A deep Liverpool free-kick swirls behind. Brighton are having a better spell at the moment; they look composed and organised, as you’d expect from a team constructed by a wise head like Powell.
33 min: Another good, patient Brighton move ends up with Robe conceding the flag kick this time – and taking a whack in the stomach in so doing. Brighton send up the cavalry for this one, which is sent in from the right after a delay. It’s aimed teasingly into the six-yard box but the referee sees an offence and blows up instantly. I’m not really sure there was a lot going on in there to be honest; we’ve heard a little too much blowing-up so far, in my book.
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30 min: Robe, the Liverpool left-back, does well to prevent the lively Ellie Brazil winning a corner. Brighton are playing some neat stuff, to be fair to them, but the goal threat isn’t particularly obvious at the moment.
28 min: Buet, the Brighton captain, thuds a long-range blast well wide. Approaching the half-hour here and both sides will feel they’ve got themselves a foothold in this.
27 min: That was Christie Murray, by the way. Another Murray, Satara, is playing at right-back for Liverpool.
25 min: Now Liverpool contrive a sharp, one-touch move on the right and Murray swings over a dangerous-looking cross. Gillett, who has started confidently in goal, claims it well.
24 min: Clarke, such an experienced performer at this level, now gets a good sight of goal inside the box and she’s scored these before ... but allows Gillett to make the stop. Just a feeling that Liverpool have the extra gears here if they can find them.
22 min: Another Brighton corner after a cross is deflected off Clarke and Preuss can’t keep the ball in. But the set-piece flies beyond everybody, well outside the box, and Liverpool can counter via Coombs. Eventually Brighton clear up a situation of their own making.
20 min: Charles works her way into an interesting position on the left and cuts a centre just behind Linnett, whose shot on the turn is deflected and saved. As it happened there was an offside in there anyway. I’d say Liverpool have slightly the more danger brimming from their forward moves at the moment.
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17 min: Green picks up a hefty knock after a challenge with Matthews, and goes down in the Liverpool box. She’s OK though and that all came about after another profitable move down Brighton’s right-hand side. They’ll be encouraged by that.
15 min: Decent effort from Linnett, of Liverpool, from fully 30 yards – but it sails over and Gillett is never really worried.
14 min: It’s damp in Crawley, as slated, but a decent crowd has come out and there’s plenty of enthusiasm in the air. The evidence so far is that it’s going to be a tight game here, perhaps won by the odd goal.
12 min: Brighton win their first corner after a good overlap down the right by Brett. It’s defended well by Bradley-Auckland at the near post and a goal kick is given, although she was a little fortunate there I think. The ball seemed to ping off her.
10 min: Green, of Brighton, scythes Robes down with a meaty midfield challenge. Liverpool keep up the pressure after the free-kick but Charles, coming in from the left, crosses harmlessly out of play.
8 min: Preuss, Liverpool’s German goalkeeper, collects a diagonal pass from halfway well. It’s Brighton’s turn to see a little more of the ball.
6 min: Liverpool are clearly trying to find Clarke one-on-one down the right. She goes on another run but it’s snuffed out. They have settled and look the more threatening so far.
4 min: Jess Clarke, the Liverpool forward, spins inside the area and, from the right side, whips a left-footed cross-shot wide of the far post. It was neither one thing nor the other, but it was a decent area to get into early on.
3 min: Lucy Ward, Neil Redfearn’s partner, is co-commentating on BT. That’s interesting. She’s just said the support he received from the club wasn’t quite what had been expected, although won’t go any further. “That’s diplomatic enough.”
2 min: Liverpool look to build from the back early on, with their captain Bradley-Auckland seeing a bit of the ball. Brighton look inclined to press fairly high though – they seem full of energy in these early exchanges.
Peeeeep! Off we go
Brighton, in those famous vertical blue and white stripes, kick us off against the all-reds.
Expecting both sides to line up with attack-minded 4-3-3s. So let’s hope they feel inclined to go for it – both will surely see this as three gettable points, if not quite the “must-win” category at this stage.
The teams are walking out! Eager to receive your tweets and emails as we go – the addresses are above ...
Powell speaks: “I think we’re developing, which is a good sign. Every game they play they’re adapting to life at the top end. It’s tough for us but they’re having a good go.”
So does Jepson: “It’s a true test of character, what they’ve been through. That could splinter a group but they’ve shown real resilience.”
Liverpool came back from 3-1 down to beat Durham, ultimately on penalties, in the WSL Cup last week and they can feel a little perked by that.
Liverpool had a massive turnaround in Redfearn’s short spell – 11 players out and 12 in. Now they’re under brand new management. It’s a lot to take! And they’ll need time to gel. This looks like an excellent chance for Brighton, managed of course by Hope Powell, to take the points.
Teams
Brighton: Gillett, Barton, Williams, Rafferty, Gibbons, Brett, Buet, Natkiel, A Whelan, Green, Brazil. Subs: Hartley, Roe, F Whelan, Perry, Peplow, Legg, Umotong.
Liverpool: Preuss, S Murray, Bradley-Auckland, Matthews, Robe, Coombs, C Murray, Rodgers, Charles, Linnett, Clarke. Subs: Kitching, Sweetman-Kirk, Daniels, Babajide.
Only four subs there for the visitors, you’ll notice.
Team news in a second. I was at Brighton yesterday to report on the men’s fixture against Spurs and can report that I – and this very laptop! – got absolutely soaked. I hope it’s better for everyone there today. This match is being played at Crawley Town FC.
Hello everyone
Something has to give today. In a positive way! Because Brighton and Liverpool don’t have a point to show for the three games they have, between each other, played so far in this WSL season.
That’s only part of the story actually, but the facts first: Brighton, promoted last season, are one of four teams yet to get off the mark. They’ve lost by the odd goal to both Bristol City and Birmingham, so there’ve been positives to take, but they might scent a high-profile scalp today in the form of a Liverpool side that has begun the season in absolute turmoil.
Yep, while their men’s team blasts all comers out of the view, the women are in a bit of a bind. They lost their first league game 5-0 to Arsenal and subsequently saw Neil Redfearn – who had only arrived in June – resign as manager. Chris Kirkland has been named caretaker for brief spell but today they’ll be overseen by Vicky Jepson because Kirkland has, per the club’s website, “a long-standing charity commitment”. It has been a turbulent period and this piece will explain it more thoroughly:
Can they make things seem a whole lot better today? Find out shortly – kick-off is at 12.15pm UK time!
