Jurgen Klopp has praised Liverpool’s patience in their win over Brighton.
A second-half penalty from Mohamed Salah was enough to ensure the Reds temporarily restored their lead in the Premier League title race to seven points.
Saturday’s trip to the Amex Stadium was far from a memorable encounter as Klopp’s side returned to winning ways following back-to-back defeats.
And the Liverpool manager was pleased with the levels of concentration his players showed in taking and maintaining their crucial lead on the South Coast.
“It’s obviously a big challenge for everybody to stay calm and to stay concentrated because each little situation can be a massive threat or counter-attack,” said Klopp.
“And don’t make any fouls because Brighton are unbelievably strong around set-pieces; we don’t make harsh fouls.
“But if you step too late, this kind of concentration level is difficult to keep, the boys did it.
“In the first half, we had four or five situations, which is absolutely enough usually, if you score in a situation like that, when we came into the box or won the ball back or pressed them and won the ball.
“The second half was better. I really liked [at] half-time, we could readjust a few things and the boys reacted on that.
“In the second half, we won the ball back, nice little counter-attack – Mo, Shaqiri I think and then Mo again in the box, clear penalty.
“We finished it off, which is good. Then, keep calm again, stay calm, keep the ball, play around, create, try to create without taking any risks because it was clear today was not a day for a massive result.”
Liverpool’s first victory of 2019 came on the back of an unbeaten run in December where they plundered 22 goals in seven league games.
But Klopp admitted he was happy to settle for a one-goal margin at the Amex.
He added: “I faced these questions at the beginning of the season pretty often.
“We had results and people obviously thought the difference between the Manchester City game last year in the Champions League, or the Roma home game, was too big.
“That’s absolutely OK but we are not the Harlem Globetrotters, we have to deliver results. For that, we need to perform. The performance was good.
“It was not the best performance of the season in a few departments but I would say it was the most mature performance of the season. It’s so important.
“On good days, everybody can win football games. On an average day, not a lot of teams can win football games. On a bad day, only a few can win football games.
“Today was not a bad day but it was a difficult day for us. It was a difficult game because Brighton are doing really well. “