Mo Salah’s chase of Premier League attacking records has continued to stall as the champions fell to defeat at Brighton.
Substitute Jack Hinshelwood scored with his first touch of the ball to give Brighton a thrilling 3-2 win over Liverpool and keep alive their slim chance of European football.
Brighton’s attempts to sneak into Europe became complex after bitter rivals Crystal Palace’s shock FA Cup final win over Manchester City.
If fourth-placed Chelsea win the Europa Conference League next week, there is a chance that the eighth-placed team in the Premier League can qualify for next season’s Conference League.
Monday night’s win lifted Brighton into that coveted eighth spot, three points above Brentford, four ahead of Fulham and five clear of Bournemouth.
Salah made his 300th Premier League appearance but Liverpool rested several players at the Amex Stadium, including captain Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Salah, who missed a sitter during the defeat, spurned the chance to edge closer to the Premier League record for goal involvements.
Salah scored twice against Southampton on March 8 to go to 27 goals and 17 assists in 29 matches, just three goal involvements short of the Premier League record of 47, held jointly by Alan Shearer and Andrew Cole.
He also looked certain to beat the record of 20 Premier League assists in a season, jointly held by Arsenal’s Thierry Henry and Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne.
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Since then, has recorded just one goal and one assist in eight matches, leaving him still one short of the goal involvement record and two short of the assist record.
After helping Liverpool secure the title, Salah said: “Hopefully I’m going to break [the goal involvements record] soon. It’s something pushing me forward to just keep going and keep working hard.”
The Reds took the lead after just nine minutes, and in doing so became only the third team in Premier League history to score in every one of their away games.
Conor Bradley, in his first start since signing a new four-year contract on Saturday, cut the ball back from the byline for Harvey Elliot to side-foot home.
The Seagulls, though, fought back in an end-to-end encounter.
Danny Welbeck missed a golden chance after half an hour but Yasin Ayari made no mistake two minutes later to level the score.
Liverpool were back in front by the break after Dominik Szoboszlai’s memorable cross-cum-shot on the stroke of halftime.
Japanese Kaoru Mitoma equalised in the 69th, just four minutes after his introduction. It was his third goal in four games, all of them as a late substitute.
Hinshelwood then stole in at the back post to convert Matt O’Riley’s low cross and, although the offside flag was raised, the goal was given after a video review.
It was a winning introduction for Hinshelwood, who came on alongside his 17-year-old cousin Harry Howell. Howell also made history by becoming Brighton’s youngest ever Premier League player.
Arne Slot’s Reds have now taken only one point from three games since clinching the title on April 27.
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