Dominik Szoboszlai’s brilliant late free-kick gave Liverpool victory against Arsenal after a hard-fought meeting of the Premier League superpowers at Anfield on Sunday.
A dour encounter looked to be heading for a draw until the Hungarian curved a magnificent strike past Arsenal keeper from 30 yards in front of an exultant Kop after 81 minutes.
The Gunners, who kept new £60m signing Eberechi Eze on the bench until the second half, suffered an early setback when key defender William Saliba went off injured after five minutes, to be replaced by summer signing Cristhian Mosquera.
Chances were at a premium as both sides showed each other huge respect, although Liverpool had a goal ruled out when striker Hugo Ekitike was adjudged offside after bundling home a finish in front of The Kop.
Liverpool mounted increasing pressure as the second half went on, but it took a stunning moment from Szoboszlai to maintain their winning start to the season and inflict Arsenal’s first defeat.
Liverpool go into the international break with maximum points from their three Premier League games – and still without demonstrating the full fluency they showed when they strolled to the title last season.
Meanwhile, Brajan Gruda came off the bench to score an 89th-minute goal to give Brighton their first win of the Premier League season, while condemning Manchester City to back-to-back defeats.
The German attacking midfielder finished calmly to seal a comeback success after he rounded James Trafford, who had made a brilliant save to deny Jan Paul van Hecke moments earlier.
City had taken a 34th-minute lead as Erling Haaland marked his 100th Premier League appearance with his 88th goal, poking home from close range.
But the Norwegian spurned other chances that proved costly in the end for Pep Guardiola’s side.
Following a Matheus Nunes handball inside the box, James Milner converted from the penalty spot against his former club to become the Premier League’s second oldest scorer – behind Teddy Sheringham – at the age of 39 years and 239 days.
It was Milner’s first Brighton goal and first in the league since Boxing Day, 2019, when he scored in Liverpool 4-0 win against Leicester City – also from the penalty spot.
The Seagulls continued to threaten after the 67th-minute equaliser and snatched victory when Gruda broke clear and showed composure to slide home his third goal for the club since his arrival last year from Mainz.
City, who lost 2-0 at home to Spurs last weekend, have only three points from as many games, while Brighton have four following this dramatic success.
Also, West Ham struck three times in the final six minutes to ease the pressure on under-fire West Ham boss, Graham Potter, as they earned a deserved win at Nottingham Forest.
Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta’s penalty and Callum Wilson’s first goal for the club earned the Hammers their first victory after what had looked to have been a damaging start to the season.
Potter will have been comforted by the Hammers’ solidity in a forgettable first half given their vulnerability in previous games.
They competed well but lacklustre Forest never stretched them and the visitors created the only opening, Paqueta testing Sels.
