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It was one of those moments that Dominik Szoboszlai will never, ever want to watch again.
In the same half in which the 25-year-old scored a belter that arguably no keeper would have saved, the Liverpool midfielder made a mistake that was described as “disrespectful” by Barnsley manager Conor Hourihane and “weird” by his own boss, Arne Slot.
After sprinting and winning the ball ahead of Adam Phillips, Szoboszlai tried to backheel the ball in his own box to Liverpool keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, but scuffed the ball and left Phillips with a tap-in.
It proved inconsequential in the end but was the main talking point post-match.
“I don’t think you should do that in an FA Cup or League Cup game, a friendly game or even a training session,” said Slot. “It’s a weird choice and I have my opinion about it but I prefer to keep that to myself and speak about that with Dom.”
For Hourihane, there was a sense of anger with the fact that Szoboszlai tried to backheel the ball in the first place.
“I was disappointed with our goal because he [Szoboszlai] doesn’t do that against Chelsea or Arsenal,” Hourihane told TNT Sports.
Asked if it was disrespectful, Hourihane added: “Yeah, potentially. I don’t think he does that in a Premier League game or in a Champions League game so I was a little bit disappointed with that. It was a bit of a lack of respect.
“Delighted for Adam, but disrespectful from their player’s point of view.”
Aside from the error, Szoboszlai’s performance was impressive as he became the first Premier League player this season to score a goal, complete 100+ passes (105) and win possession 10+ times (12) in a single match.
“I’m sorry for the team again. I made it hard for us with an easy mistake I would say. But football moves on and we take the next round,” he said.
Ex-Crystal Palace and Reading winger Jobi McAnuff told BBC Radio 5 Live: “The first half was almost too easy for Liverpool at times. Yes Barnsley had a couple of opportunities and didn’t take them prior to their goal and as an opponent you get yourself into a mindset of doing things you wouldn’t normally do.
“The game was safe at that point and it’s just one of those horrendous situations. It looks worse the more you watch it back. Whatever he’s done, he’s got it all wrong.”
On TNT Sports, former Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott agreed the error was “disrespectful”, while ex-Scotland striker Ally McCoist described it as “incredible”.
Should Barnsley have had a penalty?
The Hungary midfielder was at the centre of a controversial second-half decision too. At 2-1, Barnsley had a penalty shout turned down when Reyes Cleary fell in the box after a challenge from Szoboszlai.
“At the time I thought it was a stonewall penalty,” said Hourihane. “He [Cleary] got across the player and you think penalty straight away. I think someone said he [Szoboszlai] might have got a touch on the ball but others said he may have thought he was in trouble and started dragging Reyes’ shirt a bit.
“It would have been at a key time, 2-1, a penalty in front of our fans and you never know what can happen after that. So a big decision that probably went against us.”
On TNT Sports, McCoist added: “That’s a penalty. Definitely. It’s not even up for debate. Szoboszlai pulls Cleary’s shirt and catches his right foot as well. I’m not surprised Conor Hourihane is animated on the sideline.”
But Lescott disagreed: “If he was pulling his shirt, I’d question why he fell forward and not back. For me, that’s not a penalty.”
Either way, without video assistant referees (VAR) until the fifth round of the FA Cup, there was no chance of the referee overturning his on-field decision.
“There was no VAR so even if he [the referee] made a mistake there wasn’t a possibility to correct it,” said Slot. “I was told it was not a penalty and Dominik played the ball. I’ve seen on Thursday evening twice things in Arsenal’s box that were more a penalty.”
Ultimately, Liverpool made it 11 games undefeated in all competitions (W6, D5), with this now their best run since going 24 matches unbeaten between September 2024 and January 2025.
That Slot turned to Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike on the hour mark was a statement in itself and the pair combined in style late on to ensure the latter stages were stress free for the hosts.
Wirtz, in particular, was a class apart during his 30-minute cameo.
“If you come in for half an hour and you have a goal and an assist and a few other good moments, you can definitely say he brought something creative to the team and that’s what we needed,” said Slot.
“We wanted to show that we take the FA Cup seriously,” added Szoboszlai. “We always take it seriously. We showed again today we need the whole squad. The new guys came in, who didn’t play as much as the others, and they showed lots of quality. We need everyone.”
Thankfully for him, Liverpool were not left to rue his moment of madness.
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