Liverpool fans were treated to a rare and welcome sight just before Ekitike’s 47-second goal
Liverpool made a habit of scoring decisive late goals in the early weeks of the season, but this afternoon they went to the other extreme against Brighton.
There were only 47 seconds on the clock when Hugo Ekitike crashed in his ninth goal of the campaign, exploiting a gap in the visitors’ defence to hammer the ball past Bart Verbruggen and give the Reds a very, very early lead.
The identity of the goalscorer was no surprise, with the Frenchman topping the charts for LFC this season in that regard, but the provider of the assist was rather more unexpected.
Gomez tees up Ekitike to score for Liverpool
Yankuba Minteh was made to rue his decision to clear the ball across Brighton’s penalty area rather than along the touchline, with the Gambian playing it straight to Joe Gomez, who got to it ahead of his nearest opponent.
Liverpool’s number 2 nodded the ball into the path of Ekitike, who made no mistake with the finish to break the deadlock inside the first minute at Anfield.
Image via @UCL9107 on X
A rare assist for Gomez – but not quite as rare as a goal!
Today is the 253rd match of Gomez’s LFC career and the defender is still awaiting his first goal for the club, having seen even Alisson Becker score in that time!
It was also a rare assist for the 28-year-old – just his 12th in more than a decade at Liverpool, to be precise. However, it’s his second in just a fortnight, having teed up Cody Gakpo to round off the recent win over West Ham.
Kopites have become accustomed to seeing their full-back setting up goals over the past few years, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson proving to be hugely effective outlets from out wide.
Gomez hasn’t quite garnered the same reputation in his time at Anfield, but he was alert to Minteh’s botched clearance to cushion a perfect header into Ekitike’s path for the opening goal this afternoon.
That’s two assists in 14 days now for the long-serving defender…that elusive goal will surely arrive some day!
You can view Gomez’s assist for Ekitike below, taken from beIN SPORTS’ match coverage and shared via @UCL9107 on X:
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