Soccer-Swashbuckling Liverpool seize their moment in 2-0 win over Brighton

Soccer Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Brighton & Hove Albion - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - October 25, 2026 Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola celebrates after the match REUTERS/Phil Noble

LIVERPOOL, England, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Andoni Iraola ⁠was pleased his Liverpool side flew out of the blocks to cruise to a 2-0 ⁠Premier League win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday thanks to a Pascal Gross own ‌goal and a superb finish from striker AlexanderIsak.

The two sides came out with the intention of pressing high and countering quickly, and it was Liverpool who got the upper hand with two first-half goals to build a lead they never relinquished to register ​their first league win at home this term.

"Very happy for today, ⁠very happy overall for this win ... we ⁠needed a strong start, to be aggressive, recover balls, win duels, be dangerous in transitions, and I ⁠think ‌we've done that," Iraola told reporters.

Brighton's Yasin Ayari blazed an early chance over the bar and later hit the woodwork, but that was as close as the visitors came as Liverpool threw ⁠off the shackles of a shaky start to the league season ​to show a glimpse of ‌what they are capable of doing.

With Cody Gakpo to the left, Bradley Barcola to the ⁠right and Isak through ​the centre, Liverpool boast a broad, balanced attack, but they have struggled to find harmony in the opening weeks of the campaign.

On Sunday that began to look like a thing of the past as Gakpo repeatedly attacked down his ⁠flank, occasionally cutting inside to keep his marker guessing and ​causing havoc while trying to either fashion shooting chances or pick out better-placed teammates.

Liverpool's second goal came from Barcola winning the ball high up the field and squaring to Isak, whose deft first-time finish gave the ⁠keeper no chance.

"Alex, I think, as a striker, if we can put him in those positions and we can provide him good crosses, good situations, he will score the goals," Iraola said.

"It's a matter of, in this case Bradley, winning the duel, going one against one, being faster than the opposition and finding ​good spots."

After an injury-plagued first season, Isak is looking more comfortable in ⁠a Liverpool shirt as he netted for the third league game in a row.

"We had a lot of ​chances in the first half where we won the ball and ‌countered. We could have had more goals, but yeah, ​Bradley done super, super good, and for me, it was just about being in the right place to finish it off," he told Sky Sports.

(Reporting by Philip O'ConnorEditing by Christian Radnedge)

Thank you for your report!

足球 - 英超联赛 - 利物浦对阵布莱顿 - 安菲尔德球场，利物浦，英国 - 2026年10月25日 利物浦主教练安多尼·伊劳拉赛后庆祝 路透社/菲尔·诺布尔

英格兰利物浦，10 月 25 日（路透社）——安多尼·伊劳拉很高兴他的利物浦队开局强势，凭借帕斯卡尔·格罗斯的乌龙球和前锋亚历山大·伊萨克的精彩进球，在周日的英超联赛中以 2-0 战胜布莱顿和霍夫阿尔比恩。

双方都采取了高位逼抢和快速反击的策略，利物浦在上半场凭借两粒进球占据了上风，并最终保持领先优势直至比赛结束，取得了本赛季主场联赛的首场胜利。

“今天我非常高兴，总体来说我对这场胜利非常满意……我们需要一个强势的开局，要积极主动，抢回球权，赢得对抗，在转换进攻中制造威胁，我认为我们做到了，”伊拉奥拉告诉记者。

布莱顿的亚辛·阿亚里开场不久便错失良机，一脚劲射高出横梁，随后又击中门框，但这已经是客队最接近胜利的一次了。利物浦摆脱了联赛开局的低迷状态，展现了他们应有的实力。

利物浦拥有左路的科迪·加克波、右路的布拉德利·巴科拉和中路的伊萨克，进攻线布局均衡，但他们在赛季初的几周里一直难以找到默契。

到了周日，这种情况似乎已经成为过去，加克波不断从他的侧翼发起进攻，偶尔内切让盯防他的球员摸不着头脑，制造混乱，同时试图创造射门机会或找到位置更好的队友。

利物浦的第二个进球来自巴科拉在前场高位断球后横传给伊萨克，伊萨克巧妙地一脚射门，让门将毫无办法。

“我认为，作为前锋的亚历克斯，如果我们能让他出现在那些位置上，并给他提供好的传中和好的机会，他就能进球，”伊劳拉说道。

“在这种情况下，关键在于布拉德利能否赢得对决，一对一地较量，比对手更快，并找到好的机会。”

在经历了伤病缠身的第一个赛季后，伊萨克身披利物浦球衣看起来越来越得心应手，他已经连续第三场联赛取得进球。

“上半场我们有很多机会，我们抢到球权后进行了反击。我们本可以进更多球，但是布拉德利表现得非常出色，对我来说，关键在于我是否出现在正确的位置，把握住了机会，”他告诉天空体育。

（菲利普·奥康纳报道，克里斯蒂安·拉德内奇编辑）

感谢您的报告！