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At the ripe old age of 32, Mohamed Salah will no longer be able to give his defenders headaches for 90 minutes like he used to, and the numbers won't be as overwhelming as they used to be either. What these once-in-a-lifetime talents can do, however, is create season-defining moments when his team needs them most.

The visitors outnumbered their opponents for much of Saturday's thrilling clash against Brighton & Hove Albion, leaving Liverpool looking foolish as they chased shadows in the first half.

But just going into the break 1-0 never felt like enough. Not when the Salahs of this world are there. We've all seen goals like his second-half winner that completed a crucial comeback win, made even sweeter on a day when both Manchester City and Arsenal had previously lost.

However, that doesn't make it avoidable. When Salah cuts to his left foot, the man who is now eighth on the Premier League's all-time top scorers list is almost always there.

Leagues are won in moments, moments that few can experience so often.

The angles that Brighton sometimes found inside their own penalty area to attract Liverpool's pressing would have given Hipparchus a headache in the first half.

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Only two Premier League teams had conceded more goals than Brighton at the weekend due to defensive errors, but you wouldn't have known that as Brighton toyed with Liverpool at times in the first 45 minutes before a stunned Anfield.

Pep Guardiola has revolutionized the way defenses play from the back, with goalkeepers at every level, from Anfield to Hackney Marshes, using the short option. However, this was something completely different.

Guardiola tries to instill an element of pause in his players, allowing the play to develop for a split second longer, creating new spaces before a pass is made. I don't even think the crazy Catalan tried his goalkeepers.

While Liverpool chased the shadows, Brighton were unlucky to only go into the break with a 1-0 lead. Ferdi Kadioglu, a left-back operating on the right wing – why not – fired the visitors up front and scored what will truly be remembered as his first Premier League goal in front of a stunned Kop.

A great stop from Caoimhin Kelleher in Liverpool's much busier Georginio Rutter goal prevented Brighton from extending their first-half lead, while the hosts could barely string two passes together.

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They just knew the opportunity would prove crucial. There was no way Liverpool were going to be this bad after the break and in fact some challenges got the crowd going, with Virgil van Dijk and Salah missing golden opportunities to equalize early in the second half.

It was a matter of time before the Kop net bulged again as Cody Gakpo's cross, which evaded everyone and ended up in the net, broke Brighton's resistance.

From here there was only one winner. Curtis Jones, an excellent substitute, the creator, the Egyptian king of enforcers. Salah has been involved in 12 of Liverpool's 20 league goals this season, a higher proportion of a team's goals than any other team in the Premier League.

He was supposed to be on the decline and considering a move to Saudi Arabia, where he could actually become king – a Muslim footballer in an Arab country.

Not yet. Salah and Liverpool are far from finished. He will disappear in games for long periods of time, like he did against Brighton, but there is always a moment in his locker. And that can make the difference in an exciting title race.