‘For me’ - Roberto De Zerbi makes shock admission about Brighton’s equaliser in Liverpool draw

Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi refused to be drawn in on whether Pascal Gross should have been sent off in their draw against Liverpool.

The Reds battled to a 2-2 stalemate on the south coast in the Premier League yesterday. Simon Adringa opened the scoring for Brighton in the 20th minute but Liverpool hit back before half-time. Mo Salah struck the equalised on 40 minutes before Dominik Szoboszlai won Liverpool a penalty five minutes later. The midfielder won possession deep in enemy territory and was then dragged back by Gross inside the area.

Despite there being calls that a clear goalscoring opportunity had been denied, Gross avoided a booking. Salah struck home the spot-kick but Brighton were back on level terms when Lewis Dunk finished from a free-kick in the 78th minute.

Yet De Zerbi, speaking at his post-match press conference, reckons the Seagulls were fortunate to have had the set-piece awarded in the first place. Asked whether Gross should have stayed on the pitch, the Brighton head coach replied: “I don't know. If you speak like this, you have to analyse the offside in the second goal of Aston Villa (of a 6-1 loss), the third goal of Aston Villa, you have to analyse last season in Palace game we scored a regular 100% goal.

“We can speak until tomorrow night and are not in 100% agreement. For me, it is finished. I spoke two minutes ago the Dunk goal in the set-piece wasn't a foul for me. I think I am the most honest when I come to speak with you.”

On the result, De Zerbi said: “It’s a good point. I think in the 90 minutes we played better than Liverpool, especially in the first half.

“We were losing 1-2 in the first half, we conceded two goals in a very bad way. We didn’t understand how we were losing in that moment. In general, I think it was a good game, both teams played well.”