Graham Potter verdict on Luis Diaz incident after VAR review during Liverpool win at Brighton

Graham Potter has claimed his Brighton side “were not good enough” against Liverpool as the Reds condemned the Seagulls to a fifth straight defeat.

The Brighton boss also admitted he felt Roberto Sanchez’s reckless challenge on Luis Diaz for the Colombian’s opener was an accident after the Spanish goalkeeper escaped any punishment despite VAR reviewing the incident.

Brighton started the contest the better of the two sides but fell behind thanks to Diaz’s second goal since signing for the Reds in the 19th minute, before Mohamed Salah’s 20th goal of the season secured Liverpool’s eighth straight league win.

Danny Welbeck and Solly March tested Alisson in Liverpool’s goal in the closing stages of the game, but the better side won to leave Brighton 13th in the Premier League table.

Speaking to BT Sport after the game, Potter said on the defeat: “We started really well, we were the better team on the front foot.

“The goal took the wind out of our sails a little bit, especially with the run we’re on and them being Liverpool. Credit to the boys they stuck in there.

“1-0 at half-time and we’re still in the game. In the second half a couple of things didn’t go our way with the penalty.

“We had chances to press and unsettle them, our response throughout the game was great, I thought we finished the game really well. I think against a team as strong as Liverpool we were not good enough.”

The game’s first talking point came after 20 minutes when Diaz beat Sanchez to the ball from a neat Joel Matip pass, causing VAR to review an incident that saw the Seagulls keeper wipe out Diaz.

Klopp stated he hadn’t seen the clash back after the game, but Potter provided his assessment of the incident involving his shot-stopper.

“I have not seen it back, I think it was an accident. The quality of the run and pass beat him.

“It’s not a happy camp when you lose, but we just need to focus on the next game. The Premier League can be difficult. The recency of results is the lens you look at. Rightly, some but we need to do better.

“We need to get to the points tally we want, and only way we can do that is to focus on the next game.”