Alexis Mac Allister delivered a sublime performance as Liverpool came from behind to beat Brighton (Getty)
Roberto De Zerbi insists Alexis Mac Allister deserves to be an ‘important’ player for Liverpool following their 2-1 win over Brighton on Sunday.
Brighton took an early lead at Anfield through Danny Welbeck’s superb strike but Jurgen Klopp’s side were level at the break following Luis Diaz’s equaliser.
Mohamed Salah then scored Liverpool’s winner in the 65th minute as he received a superb pass from Mac Allister before finishing low past Bart Verbruggen.
Mac Allister delivered another impressive display for Liverpool and De Zerbi, who managed the Argentina international at Brighton, says he is ‘proud’ of the midfielder’s development since his £35 million move to Anfield last summer.
‘I think he became a great, great player,’ De Zerbi said of Mac Allister after Brighton’s defeat.
‘The assist for the second goal was incredible.
‘I’m happy, I’m proud for him because I worked with him he deserves to be an important player in a big team.’
Mohamed Salah scored Liverpool’s second-half winner against Brighton (Reuters)
When asked about Mac Allister’s performance, Klopp said: ‘I saw a lot of special performances today.
‘Yes, Macca was incredible, absolutely incredible, but if when you have that kind of talent, when you have that kind of character, then you should show it. It’s Macca, he can do that, so do it.
‘That’s Conor [Bradley], that’s [Jarell] Quansah, that’s Wataru [Endo], that’s Dom [Szoboszlai]… they are that good. That’s Joe Gomez. The boys are good, so show it.
‘Yes, I am the biggest fan of these boys but I stopped being surprised if they really perform on the highest level because it is just what I want them to do and then when they do it it’s fine.
‘If they cannot do it then I think about why and how we could help, but when they do it I am not as surprised as others maybe, I am just happy the more often they can do it.
‘Great game, so many moments and then Caoimh [Kelleher] puts the ball out of the corner. I saw that pretty well and I didn’t expect the hand coming. There he was and it was really cool. As I said, difficult game, good performance, fantastic result.’
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