The sight of a crestfallen Dominik Szoboszlai told another tale. He struck for Liverpool in spectacular style, gifted Barnsley a goal with an embarrassing blunder and was the man of the match in the sense it revolved around him to a remarkable extent; Barnsley wanted a penalty for his shirt tug on the lively Reyes Cleary. The night ended with Liverpool progressing in the FA Cup simultaneously because of and despite Szoboszlai.
Szoboszlai has usually the one who was blameless this season. Not this time, though a gaffe at least allowed Adam Phillips to realise an ambition. “Scoring in front of the Kop, Liverpool fan, coming through the academy; it’s something he can look back on for the rest of his life and say he did that,” said his manager, Conor Hourihane.
When Szoboszlai looks back, it may be with more regret. The Hungarian first showed his side the way and was then punished for his showboating. His night began with a celebration and ended with an apology. “Sorry to the team again,” he said. “I made it hard for us. It was an easy mistake.”
It may not spare him an inquest from an unhappy Arne Slot. “I don’t think you should do that in an FA Cup game or League Cup, a friendly game or even a training session,” he said. “It’s a weird choice but I prefer to speak about that with Dom.”
Indeed, Szoboszlai united the two managers in criticism. “A little bit disrespectful from their player, I don’t think he does that against Chelsea or Arsenal or in a Champions League game,” said Barnsley’s Hourihane. Szoboszlai does at least score against both Arsenal and Barnsley. His sixth of the season means only Hugo Ekitike has more for Liverpool.
It still necessitated a display of bench strength from Slot to take Liverpool through. Perhaps scarred by last season’s exit to Plymouth, when many of his replacements were rookies, he summoned Florian Wirtz and Ekitike, saw both score and assist and ended with a 4-1 scoreline that flattered his side. But on the day a former Liverpool favourite, Xabi Alonso, became an unemployed manager, victory may have been timely for Slot. His side are now unbeaten in 11 games and if the figure is more emphatic than many of the performances, Liverpool have booked a date with Brighton. The temptation is to suggest it could have been Liverpool against Manchester United.
It might, though, have been Barnsley against Brighton. The Tykes fell to their first defeat at Anfield since 1959, a few months before Liverpool appointed Bill Shankly, but the team 17th in League One may wonder if it might have been their third straight win here. They struck the woodwork inside 30 seconds and played with a verve that belied their recent form.
They also justified Slot’s choices. “Not that it is a compliment to myself but I think I made the right decision to play a lot of starters,” he said. He made six changes, with Rio Ngumoha the sole youngster to start. When Liverpool’s lead sometimes seemed precarious, Slot made a triple change to bring on Ibrahima Konate, Wirtz and Ekitike, who have a combined cost of over £200m. If Barnsley could take that as a compliment, the reinforcements finished off the third-tier team. Wirtz’s third goal in five games was set up by Ekitike with a backheel – that, he may have showed Szoboszlai, is how to do it – and curled in from 25 yards. Then the German escaped down the right flank, centred and Ekitike was given a relatively simple finish.
So three Liverpool players made and scored a goal, but only two purely for the Reds. As Liverpool conceded a terrible goal, they scored three crackers. “It is not always easy to unlock a low block,” said Slot, repeating a favourite theme. He often says it takes a moment of magic. As Barnsley played 5-4-1, the Premier League champions got three.
Indeed, Alexis Mac Allister got a pair of assists for two distinctly unexceptional passes. The finishes were rather more memorable. First came the good from Szoboszlai, a swerving shot from 30 yards that flew past Murphy Cooper.
Then Jeremie Frimpong cut in to lash in an unstoppable shot for his first goal at Anfield. The worrying element for Liverpool was that, without Conor Bradley for the remainder of the season, Frimpong was troubled defensively.
If there were moments when Liverpool looked frail at the back, especially against counter-attacks, Barnsley’s goal came in rather different fashion. Szoboszlai has often been the role model for Liverpool this season. This was the example of how not to do things. An attempt at a backheel in his own six-yard box was an attempt to be clever that left him looking foolish. He then presented Phillips with a tap in with an attempt to be too clever. “It is not the first time we are 2-0 up and concede a sloppy goal but that stands out even for us,” said Slot.
His night just got harder. It had almost begun terribly. Liverpool had defended wonderfully against Arsenal but started shambolically. With 28 seconds gone, Davis Keillor-Dunn headed Phillips’ cross against the post. Joe Gomez was culpable then. It was not to prove Liverpool’s worst aberration at the back, though.