Mohamed Salah confirms value to Liverpool with pivotal display ...

Mohamed Salah is writing the latest magnificent chapter in his Premier League career, the Egypt superstar scoring the winner for Liverpool against Brighton & Hove Albion and marking a series of records in the process.

Elsewhere, Sébastien Haller made his latest Borussia Dortmund comeback, against Bayern Munich; Serhou Guirassy continued his remarkable season in the Bundesliga; and Mikayil Faye extended his unforgettable week while playing for Barcelona B.

With Arsenal and Manchester City meeting later on Sunday, Liverpool's showdown with Brighton presented an opportunity for the Reds to gain ground on at least one of their title rivals. Liverpool's victory took them to 67 points -- two ahead of Arsenal and three ahead of City after they played out a 0-0 draw at the Etihad Stadium -- with nine matches to play.

This was a less-than-stellar Liverpool display at Anfield, with non-negotiable home points at stake, but even an off-colour Reds side can secure maximum points with Salah in their ranks.

This was the talisman's first start in the Premier League since New Year's Day -- a consequence of the hamstring injury he sustained vs. Ghana at the Africa Cup of Nations -- and, in truth, he should have buried Brighton on a trio of occasions during the first half.

"I imagine Mo would have finished all those situations in his career, but that would have been a crazy number," Jurgen Klopp said after the match. "The finishes weren't as good as he can do."

Salah's first decisive intervention saw him playing in Luis Díaz for Liverpool's 27th-minute equaliser, reaching the ball ahead of Carlos Baleba and heading it back into the danger zone for the Colombian to poke home from point-blank range.

The Merseysiders laboured for the winner, and it was Salah -- found unattended in the box by an excellent ball from Alexis Mac Allister -- who secured maximum points with a laser-like finish soon after the hour mark.

There was evidence of rust in the forward's display, but his 12 shots on goal was his own personal 'best' in the top flight -- even if the tally resulted in only one goal -- and no Liverpool player has matched that number since Opta Sports began collecting the statistic in 2003.

The goal and the assist took Salah's direct-goal contributions in the league this season to 25, and he'll fancy himself to eclipse last season's return of 31 (19 goals, 12 assists).

Salah has registered at least 25 goal involvements for seven consecutive Premier League campaigns; he is, the third player since the league's launch in 1992 to achieve this feat, tying him with Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry.

Salah has registered either a goal or an assist every 91 minutes on average since arriving at Liverpool, and he'll be crucially aware that his ability to maintain such a consistent output over the coming weeks could make the difference to Klopp ending his tenure at Anfield with one Premier League title or two.

Two African strikers enjoyed a weekend to remember in the Bundesliga, with Haller and Guirassy's seasons taking their latest twists.

For Haller, it's been a campaign of outstanding highs and bitter lows.

He was the hero of Ivory Coast's AFCON glory on home soil -- scoring the winner in the semifinal and final -- but has simultaneously endured a campaign marred by injury and fitness issues.

He overcame fitness issues at the beginning of the Africa Cup of Nations to make a big impact in the latter stages, and will be hoping to do the same in the Bundesliga after returning to action against Bayern Munich.

Haller was introduced as a 74th-minute substitute with Dortmund leading 1-0 at their fierce rivals, and he required just nine minutes to make a big intervention and hand Bayern their first Der Klassiker defeat at home since April 2014.

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The Ivorian capped off an unexpectedly uncontested spell of Dortmund pressure when he received the ball just inside the hosts' box, and flicked it to his right for the advancing Julian Ryerson to send a first-time right-footed shot beyond Sven Ulreich.

This was Haller's first competitive action of any kind since the Nations Cup final, and his first outing for Dortmund since mid-December.

Having not registered an assist or a goal in any of his first 15 matches of the season, for either club or country, Haller has now contributed three goals in his past three matches, even though he will recognise that he is still far from full sharpness.

The win takes Dortmund to 53 points after 27 matches, three points ahead of RB Leipzig in the race for the fourth Champions League berth.

Bayern remain second, 13 points behind Bayer Leverkusen, for whom Nigeria's Nathan Tella came off the bench to register a 91st-minute assist as the champions elect came from behind to defeat TSG Hoffenheim 2-1 at home.

In Stuttgart, Guinea 's Guirassy opened the scoring for the hosts with a close-range finish in the 41st minute of a fascinating encounter against 1.FC Heidenheim 1846.

VfB Stuttgart looked set a straightforward result when Angelo Stiller added a second goal, only for the minnows to rally and establish a 3-2 lead with five minutes to play after three goals in 23 minutes.

Brighton loanee Deniz Undav equalised in the 98th minute, and the draw saw third-placed Stuttgart move a point closer to Bayern, three points behind the Bavarian giants.

"Disappointed that we left a victory waiting for us," Guirassy wrote on his social handles. "Nevertheless, good proof of character to win this point. [We're] looking forward."

Guirassy now has 23 goals in 21 Bundesliga matches, and he has scored in each of his past four games. He's second in the scoring charts -- eight behind Harry Kane, having started nine fewer matches than his rival -- and he is entering very rarefied air in an African context.

The 28-year-old is now the 11th highest-scoring African player in Bundesliga history, and only one African player -- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang -- has scored more in a single Germán top-flight season.

In Spain, Faye must be pinching himself after an unexpected shift in gear in his season.

Last month, he received an unexpected call-up for Senegal, made his debut for the Teranga Lions, and marked his first international invitation with a sensational goal in the West Africans' 3-0 victory over Gabon.

On Saturday, he was named on the bench for Barcelona's first team against Las Palmas, as he continues to edge closer to his first team debut, and on Monday, he made a big contribution for the Catalan giants' B team.

Faye sealed a comeback victory for Rafael Marquez's side against Osasuna, slamming home a magnificent free-kick in the 89th minute to seal a 3-2 victory after trailing 2-0.

The victory extend Barcelona Atletic's undefeated run to 11 matches, while Faye continues to cultivate a reputation as a youngster capable of startling offensive interventions.