Brighton 1-1 Liverpool: Pascal Gross’ controversial stoppage-time penalty denies

Pascal Gross’ controversial injury-time penalty, awarded after a VAR intervention, gave Brighton a 1-1 draw against champions Liverpool.

With the game at 1-0 heading into stoppage time, Andrew Robertson was adjudged to have kicked the foot of Danny Welbeck in the box, and after going over to the pitchside monitor, referee Stuart Attwell awarded the spot-kick, despatched down the middle by Gross.

Brighton had already missed a first-half penalty – Neal Maupay struck a penalty wide after Neco Williams had brought down Aaron Connolly (20) – before Diogo Jota looked to have given Liverpool the victory, dancing past two challenges before finding the bottom corner (60), his eighth strike in eight Liverpool games.

The result means Liverpool return to the top of the Premier League for 24 hours at least, one point ahead of Tottenham and three ahead of Chelsea who face off on Super Sunday. Brighton sit 16th with 10 points from 10 games.

How Brighton grabbed point in eventful clash

Liverpool started with energy, but Brighton’s game plan soon came into action as a simple long ball over the box caught out the Reds’ high defensive line. Maupay’s through ball found Connolly through on goal, but despite having time to compose himself, he poked wide of Alisson’s left-hand post.

Jurgen Klopp’s unfamiliar starting XI included right-back Williams, starting his first Premier League game of the season, and the youngster was at fault as Brighton were then awarded a spot-kick.

Initially losing out in a duel with Yves Bissouma, Williams was then drawn into fouling Connolly on the left of the box, with Attwell pointing to the spot. His blushes were spared, however, as Maupay struck wide from 12 yards, and to make things worse, was then subbed off with a hamstring injury.

Liverpool showed how they can punish teams in an instant as Roberto Firmino’s wonderful touch and volleyed ball over the top for Mohamed Salah found the Egyptian through on goal, and he did the rest by pushing the ball past the onrushing Mat Ryan. However, VAR found that Salah’s foot was inches ahead of Brighton defender Ben White’s.

Jordan Henderson was introduced for Williams in the second half as Liverpool started to click, and they got their opener 15 minutes after the restart. Robertson found space on the left to fizz a ball square into Salah, who touched it off for Jota, and the forward brilliantly skipped two…