A brace from French striker Hugo Ekitiké allowed Liverpool to return to winning ways in the Premier League on Saturday, against Brighton (2-0) at Anfield, where Mohamed Salah played again and provided an assist.

Beyond the result, the match of the 16th day was marked by the return to competition of the Egyptian striker, a week after a sensational media outburst that led to his being sidelined.

The "King of Egypt," a substitute at the start of the match, entered the game to applause in the 26th minute after a teammate was injured. A team player, involved but sometimes clumsy, the right winger was credited with an assist from a corner, headed in by Ekitiké (60th minute, 2-0).

The opposing goalkeeper denied him a goal in added time (90+2).

This happy scenario lightens the atmosphere in Liverpool, just before Salah's departure for the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) and seven days after statements that had set the club ablaze internally.

"I feel like the club has thrown me to the wolves," he said last Saturday after the match in Leeds (3-3), his third in a row as a substitute, an unprecedented demotion for the striker with 250 goals and 420 matches.

Coach Arne Slot, with whom he had said he had "no further relationship", left him out of the squad for the trip to Inter Milan (1-0 victory) on Tuesday, but he was reinstated four days later in the team.

The man of the match on Saturday was undoubtedly Ekitiké, involved in all the good offensive moves, valuable in the defensive retreat and scoring a brace, as against Leeds.

The centre-forward scored just 46 seconds after the kick-off, with a beautiful control-volley sequence after a pass from Joe Gomez, who headed in a poor clearance from Yankuba Minteh (1st, 1-0).

The "Reds" return to winning ways in the league, after two draws, and they move up to sixth place pending the other matches of the 16th round.

The near future looks promising for them with Tottenham, Wolverhampton, Leeds and Fulham on the schedule.

AFP