Brighton and Hove Albion 3 Liverpool 2
Liverpool went in front twice but Brighton battled back, equalising twice, before Jack Hinshelwood sent the Amex wild with the winner which survived a VAR check for offside.
Yasin Ayari and Kaoru Mitoma scored the first two goals for the Seagulls in reply to first-half strikes from, first, Harvey Elliott and then, on the stroke of half-time, from Dominik Szoboszlai.
From the kick-off, Liverpool pushed forward and it took until the ninth minute for Brighton to really look like they could genuinely threaten Allison’s goal.
Brajan Gruda went down and while the Seagulls flocked towards the referee Andy Madley, he spurned their pleas for a penalty.
The Reds took advantage and less than a moment later Conor Bradley rounded Bart Verbruggen and played the ball to Elliott who popped it in.
In the 22nd minute Bradley had a chance himself but sent his shot just past the post. Shortly afterwards Jan Paul van Hecke gave away a free kick but the Albion wall saw off the threat.
And then the attacking play was heading the other way. On 28 minutes, Pervis Estupinan received a neat pass on the edge of the area but he sent his shot wide.
A header from Danny Welbeck a moment later also went wide and then Estupinan took a chance from the edge of the box two minutes later. But it lacked power and Allison made an easy save.
On 32 minutes Gruda played in Yasin Ayari on the edge of the box and the young Swede fired it into the bottom left corner of the goal.
Welbeck sent a shot over the bar a few minutes later as Albion began to get the better of the ball, with Estupinan and Gruda again trying their luck.
But before long it was Liverpool who started playing the short passing game and pressing forwards although the first decent shot at this stage came from a long pass Mo Salah. Verbruggen responded brilliantly.
In stoppage time, an unmarked Gruda almost gave Albion the lead but it was Allison’s turn to stave off the danger.
And then, with just one minute of stoppage time being played, Elliott turned provider and Szoboszlai produced the finish.
Allison held Welbeck at bay about five minutes after the break but the subsequent corner came to nothing. And on the hour, Welbeck was on target again but Allison was more than equal to the threat.
Gruda and Simon Adingra kept up the pressure from Brighton while Elliott and Cody Gakpo tried their luck for the Reds.
On 68 minutes, Verbruggen made a terrific stop after Salah found space in the area and sent a low ball thundering goalwards.
A moment later, Welbeck had another crack and, again, Allison denied him but Mitoma was prowling and picked up a rebound to bring Brighton back to level pegging.
Mats Wiefer went down in the box at one point but, again, the ref ignored the penalty appeals – but with just under 15 minutes to play he booked Adam Webster for felling one of the visitors.
Yankuna Minteh’s last contribution was to float a cross into the box but the danger was quickly thwarted. He went off shortly after for Hinshelwood – and Worthing teen Harry Howell replace Welbeck.
A minute later Hinsh scored the winner. A linesman flagged for offside but the goal survived the VAR check to leave Brighton fans ecstatic.
With eight minutes of stoppage time, it made for a tense finale. Howell and Mitoma both tried their luck but Albion had to make do with three goals to Liverpool’s two. A champion result!
The Seagulls now sit in eighth place with 58 points and just Tottenham Hotspur to play in north London, with kick-off scheduled for 4pm on Sunday (25 May).
Brentford and Bournemouth can both overtake Albion although Fulham are now out of the chase for eighth place.
To keep the slim hope of European football alive, Brighton fans will be hoping for Manchester City to win at home to Bournemouth tomorrow and for Chelsea to beat Real Betis in the Europa Conference League final next week.
Even then, two or three domestic results will need to go our way. The Seagulls could yet soar back to Europe.
