Liverpool have been left reeling after being knocked out of the FA Cup by Brighton on Sunday.
The Reds suffered a 2-1 defeat at the Amex Stadium, as their cup defence came to an end at the fourth round stage. Harvey Elliott opened the scoring, but goals from Lewis Dunk and Kaoru Mitoma knocked Liverpool out of the competition.
Jurgen Klopp’s side now have just the Champions League and Premier League to compete in for the remainder of the campaign. Next up for Liverpool is an away trip to Wolves in the league this weekend.
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Plenty of national media outlets were in attendance to watch Liverpool’s defeat on the south coast. Here is a round-up of what they had to say.
Sami Mokbel, via Mail Online
“Liverpool are sick of the sight of Brighton. They’ll be sick of this season, too.
“It goes from bad to worse for club that was on the cusp of a clean sweep of trophies last season.
“Merely two weeks since their 3-0 chastening here at Amex in the Premier League, Liverpool were dispatched again by brilliant Brighton as they crashed out of the FA Cup.
“How has it come to this? Jurgen Klopp needs answers because Liverpool's season is disintegrating in front of his very eyes.
“All they have left to go for now is the Champions League and a place in the top-four.
“The way they are playing, it’s highly unlikely that either challenge will prove successful.
“Their defeat here at Brighton the latest disappointment in a burgeoning compilation of shattering lows this season.”
David Hytner, via The Guardian
“Just when Jurgen Klopp thought that things could not get any worse for his Liverpool team and, especially, here on the south coast. When they were last at Brighton two weeks ago, the 3-0 Premier League defeat was, to paraphrase the manager, a historic low. Klopp could not remember a worst performance, Liverpool’s traumatic season suffering one of its deepest cuts.
“It was a big reason why this FA Cup tie mattered so much. And yet from a position of strength, a goal to the good through Harvey Elliott, they were reeled in by a Brighton team that are attracting fresh superlatives from week to week.
“Lewis Dunk scored to make it 1-1 before half-time and it was Brighton who pushed in the final 20 minutes of the second half, sensing vulnerability in a Liverpool team which has been exactly that for much of the season.
“It looked as though Liverpool would hang on. Alisson had denied the outstanding Solly March at close quarters, the rebound flying back off the Brighton winger and going wide, while Ibrahima Konaté had threw himself into a block to keep out Evan Ferguson.
“Liverpool got away with a few, not least a challenge from Konaté on Alexis Mac Allister that looked like a last-man foul. Konaté was already on a booking, having gone through the back of Ferguson. Fabinho, on as a substitute, did likewise to the 18-year-old striker, who was forced off in obvious distress – he would leave the stadium on crutches; Fabinho was lucky to see yellow rather than red – while Andy Robertson was booked for a bad one on Mac Allister in stoppage-time.
“How Brighton made him pay. From the free-kick, Pervis Estupiñán – in space beyond the far post – sent the ball back across and, after the substitute, Deniz Undav, had challenged with Robertson, serving to block him off, there was Kaoru Mitoma in further space beyond the other post.”
Sam Dean, the via The Telegraph
“Kaoru Mitoma is not the sort of footballer who seeks the limelight. On a day off from training, the Japanese forward is far more likely to be found at home on the sofa, analysing videos of his own performances, than in the trendy quarters of Brighton.
“And even when he does venture out, Mitoma is hardly the most recognisable figure. With his slight build and floppy fringe, he usually goes unnoticed. Well, he has done until now – and that is surely all about to change.
“A genuine star of the English game is emerging on the south coast, where Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton continue to show no fear of their more illustrious opponents. The whirling feet of Mitoma embody that bold approach and, for the second time in two weeks, the winger proved to be too quick and too inventive for a struggling Liverpool.
“Mitoma’s winning goal here, struck in the 92nd minute, was just the latest demonstration of his considerable talent. One touch to cut inside, fooling a pack of red-shirted defenders, and another to slam the ball into the roof of the net.
“Such was the speed of the movement, and such was the quality of the execution, that the ball did not even make contact with the floor between those touches. A ‘keepy-uppy’ goal, against Liverpool, in the final minute of a thrilling FA Cup tie: Mitoma continues to go from strength to strength, from defining moment to defining moment.
“As for Liverpool, where do they go from here? It was a measure of their current situation that Jurgen Klopp took heart from this defeat being less shameful than their previous trip to the Amex Stadium, just two weeks ago. On that occasion they were humiliated, losing 3-0, and Klopp said he could not remember a worse game in his entire managerial career.
“Klopp’s argument was that this narrow 2-1 loss at the same venue, just a few days later, was a sign of progress. But this is Liverpool he is talking about, and these are not the standards that their supporters have come to expect. Liverpool are ninth in the Premier League, out of the FA Cup and with just one win from six matches in 2023.”
Henry Winter, via The Times
“There are winners, worthy winners and wonderful, worthy winners and Kaoru Mitoma’s feat of juggling and finishing was definitely in the latter category. His stoppage-time winner was fit for an FA Cup final, let alone a fourth-round tie, although it did account for the holders.
“Brighton were presented with the opportunity for an absorbing game’s decisive moment by another piece of overaggressive Liverpool play, this time Andy Robertson catching Alexis Mac Allister on the shin. Liverpool were really out of sorts, out of timing in some of their challenges. Before the free kick, Brighton’s fans were sympathetically applauding Evan Ferguson, their centre forward being helped towards the tunnel.”
And writing in his match verdict, the ECHO's Paul Gorst questioned just what has happened to Liverpool this term.
"For all the glum faces, however, they did not look like their defence of the FA Cup had just ended. Or like a bunch of players who had just suffered defeat through a stoppage-time winner. They certainly didn't appear like a Liverpool team who had just experienced their ninth loss of a wretched campaign. In fact, it just didn't appear like any of it hurt all that much.
"Or perhaps, given the frequency at which all those setbacks have come this term, it is simply a sensation they are now used to feeling? Where has the fire, and the passion and the all raging against their fate gone? Has it all just been sapped out of this group of players once and for all?"
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