Liverpool closed the gap on Manchester City back to three points with a 2-0 victory over Brighton, who now have lost five games on the bounce
 Jurgen Klopp's men took the lead in surreal fashion when the brilliant Luis Diaz bravely headed home and got poleaxed by Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez in the immediate aftermath
 The Liverpool forward walked away with no serious injury and despite a VAR review Sanchez's challenge was deemed not worthy of a red card
Brighton, who started brightly but faded, should have equalised just after half-time but Leandro Trossard skied an effort over the bar from close range
 That proved a costly miss as Mohamed Salah netted the important second goal on 61 minutes from the penalty spot after Yves Bissouma was penalised for handball by referee Mike Dean
 Salah now has 20 goals for the Premier League season and has hit that milestone in four of his last five seasons with the club
Despite that Trossard chance, Graham Potter's men struggled for any rhythm in the attacking third and failed to score for the fourth time in their last five Premier League games
 They have now won just three of their last 24 matches in all competitions (90 minutes only) as the pressure starts to increase on their manager
Meanwhile, Liverpool have won eight consecutive Premier League games for the first time since a run of 18 successive victories ending in February 2020, on their way to winning the title in 2019/20
Attention in the title race now turns to  where Manchester City can extend the gap back to six points with a win at Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park
The opening goal for Liverpool should have been a moment of pure ecstasy for both Diaz and the travelling Liverpool supporters - instead there was a surreal hush around The Amex as Sanchez's challenge in wiping out the Liverpool forward was quite sickening to watch live
It didn't look much better from the replays it has to be said, to the extent that some Brighton fans around the press box winced at the sight of the replayed Sanchez challenge
VAR, with Stuart Attwell on duty, did review the incident but decided the goalkeeper's high tackle on the Colombian wasn't even worthy of sending referee Dean to the monitor to assess whether serious foul play had occurred
 Thankfully Diaz wasn't badly injured and gave Brighton the runaround for the remainder of the game but quite how the referees came to such a conclusion was quite baffling
You'd have been hard pushed to find a single soul who thought the arrival of Luis Diaz would push even Sadio Mane and Salah into the shade
 But that is the reality as the signing from Porto has adapted to life under Klopp so quickly and is currently Liverpool's most dangerous attacking player
He was the game's outstanding player at the Amex with a display full of high energy, sublime quality and a huge amount of bravery - as seen by his opening goal that he put himself on the line for
 "He did what a striker had to do," Klopp said
"I didn't see it back but it was spectacular enough in the first moment
 To get in there with his head it was really brave
 A great goal
"It took him a while to warm up with Klopp visibly encouraging him to track back after losing a duel with Tariq Lamptey
 It was like Klopp's words lit a fire under Diaz, who ripped the game apart from that moment
Some of the highlights of his display was a 50-yard lung-bursting run back to nick the ball off Lamptey at the end of the first half and an equally as destructive 50-yard run forward that ended with a ridiculous pass to Salah, who should have doubled his tally for the afternoon
 His running power is extraordinary
As January transfer window signings go, they don't get much better than this one
 said: "I can't talk about the situation as I only saw it once
"It's a very good example of the issues we have with VAR
 Mike Dean sees the goal and maybe isn't even thinking about a red card as the assistant referee is looking for offside
 But it was a goal
 But then there is an issue with 'clear and obvious'
 This phrase is the real problem
"Everybody is asking me whether it was a red card or not and when you get asked these questions it means most people thought it was a red card
 So, for what reason could it not be a red card then? And there is only one reason for it: the phrase 'clear and obvious'
 We have a referee who might not make a decision because there is VAR but then the VAR is thinking 'maybe Mike thought it wasn't a penalty so it's not clear and obvious' - you just can't have that view
 The phrase 'clear and obvious' is a real problem from our point of view
 It should be 'wrong or right' not 'clear and obvious'
"Nobody should feel like overturning somebody
 VAR is part of the team of referees and not someone from the outside who thinks he might embarrass the referee with his decision
 There is a lot space for improvement, that's for sure
"Brighton boss  said: "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
"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 so, but we need to do better
"We need to get to the points tally we want, and the only way we can do that is to focus on the next game
"Brighton will next face Tottenham in the Premier League on Wednesday March 16 at 7
30pm
Liverpool's next Premier League fixture will be against Mikel Arteta's Arsenal on the same day at 8
15pm, live on 
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