Liverpool have cruised to a convincing 4-0 win against Brighton & Hove Albion on the final day of the Premier League season to finish in fourth place.
The Reds required a point to make certain of a Champions League qualification spot, and in the end there was never any doubt as they eased past Brighton at the same time that fifth-placed Chelsea were being beaten by Newcastle United.
Mohamed Salah opened the scoring for the home side 26 minutes in to make it a record 32 goals in a single Premier League campaign, seeing him overtake Alan Shearer, Luis Suarez and Cristiano Ronaldo in that particular list and claim the Golden Boot award.
A Dejan Lovren header was then added to by Dominic Solanke and Andrew Robertson as both men netted in Liverpool colours for the first time, helping the Merseysiders to finish their home campaign unbeaten for just the second time in the Prem era.
© Offside
With just one win in their last five outings, Liverpool were not quite at their fluid best in the opening 17 minutes of the match, although they did have a couple of strong penalty appeals rejected by Kevin Friend.
Shane Duffy's challenge on Salah inside the box was particularly contentious, but it would ultimately matter little as the Reds were soon on top.
The first of Liverpool's numerous chances went begging when Sadio Mane was kept out by Mathew Ryan with Salah perfectly positioned alongside him, moments before the Egyptian showed his teammate how to do it by tucking a Solanke through-ball past a wrong-footed Ryan.
Roberto Firmino, playing just behind Solanke in a 4-2-3-1 formation of sorts, was then wayward with a couple of shots from inside the box.
Liverpool really should have had a second half an hour in, only for Ryan to claw away Salah's close-range shot after both he and Mane had breached the Brighton backline, and Duffy recovered in time to clear the follow-up off the line.
Georginio Wijnaldum was the next home player to waste a glorious opening, firing straight at Ryan, but the second goal did arrive before the interval as Lovren powered Robertson's delightful delivery into the back of the net.
Brighton, who held claim to the second-worst away record in the division prior to the final round of matches, were at risk of being blown away on Merseyside.
The chances kept on coming for the hosts after the restart, with Firmino and Virgil van Dijk both testing an overworked Ryan, before Solanke hammered the ball into the roof of the net for his first goal this season at the 26th attempt.
A Firmino shot aside, which Ryan did well to push over the crossbar, Liverpool took their foot off the gas from that point on, happy to see out the match in second gear.
The most notable aspect of the next half-hour was the introduction of Adam Lallana, who was back on the field following another two-month spell on the sidelines.
Liverpool did have a fourth goal in them, though, as Robertson joined Solanke in getting off the mark for the club, latching on to a loose ball and hammering it past Ryan to round things off late on.
LIVERPOOL (4-2-3-1): Karius; Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Wijnaldum; Mane (Lallana 74'), Salah (Woodburn 84'), Firmino (Ings 83'); Solanke
BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION (4-3-3): Ryan; Schelotto, Duffy (Goldson 71'), Dunk, Bong; Stephens, Kayal (Gross 57'), Propper; Knockaert, Locadia (Murray 57'), March
Daniel Lewis
