Liverpool are through to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup after a narrow 3-2 win over Brighton.
The Reds are holders of the competition and Arne Slot will have designs on extending the club’s long history of success in it.
Wednesday’s trip to the Amex Stadium looked like a significant hurdle in the way of Liverpool doing that.
Brighton have started the season well under Fabian Hurzeler and the Reds were heavily rotated on the South Coast.
However, there was still a sprinkling of real quality within the Liverpool squad on the night, as showcased by a stunning two-goal display from Cody Gakpo.
Gakpo put Liverpool ahead with a sensational strike from the left wing, before doubling the lead after a drilled effort. And with the Dutchman the key to sending the Reds through, some of his teammates have responded with thanks.
Reds’ thank Cody Gakpo after brace
Gakpo simply loves the Carabao Cup. All four of the attackers goals so far this season have come in the competition.
Jurgen Klopp raved about Gakpo’s Carabao displays last season, too. The 25-year-old hit four goals in six appearances during the trophy-winning 23/24 campaign.
Wednesday’s night’s game means he has equalled that tally already and will have his eyes on more in the next round against Southampton.
Taking to Instagram after the match, Gakpo shared a handful of photos from his celebrations against Brighton.
READ MORE: Arne Slot reveals if Cody Gakpo is now a regular starter after Brighton performance
And having watched his pair of rockets from the bench, left-back Kostas Tsimikas had a simple message of thanks for his teammate.
“Thank you,” wrote Tsimikas, on behalf of all Liverpool fans. “+2 dank je,” Ryan Gravenberch replied in Dutch, echoing the Greek’s thoughts.
Curtis Jones took a different approach, with his comment of “Wow,” summing up Gakpo’s match-winning evening.
Cody Gakpo earns weekend start
Despite his brace, we didn’t think Gakpo had a completely brilliant game against Brighton.
One moment where he botched a simple pass to Dominik Szoboszlai in a three-on-one highlighted how frustrating he can still be at times.
Nevertheless, there’s little question that Gakpo was the catalyst for Liverpool winning the tie and progressing to the next round.
As a result, we’d now expect the No.18 to start against Brighton once again on Saturday.
Luis Diaz did get a goal from the left wing as well, but Gakpo trumped him by striking twice. That’s the way to do it.
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