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it had to happen Dominic Szoboszlai. During this up and down season, the midfielder has evolved from a key member liverpoolsupporting cast for his exceptional artistry, and so it proved again on Wednesday night as his inventive free kick set his team on the way to a priceless win 3-0 Above marseille In uefa champions league.
After a campaign in which he has won praise for his all-action displays at the heart of Liverpool’s engine room, Szoboszlai has found himself in the headlines for the wrong reasons in recent weeks.
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But under increasing pressure, Szoboszlai maintained his composure at the Stade Velodrome, his goal on the stroke of halftime perfectly emblematic of his character. Cheeky, bold and full of quality, the midfielder’s free kick hit the base of the Marseille wall and went beyond the goalkeeper geronimo ruleI want to arrange everyone’s nerves in red.
As he walked away celebrating, Szoboszlai smiled and patted his temple – a reminder, perhaps, that he had not let the increasing outside noise distract him at a crucial point in Liverpool’s season. Even before he opened the scoring in the south of France, the 25-year-old had already shown glimpses of his talent. hugo akitike The ball had to be put into the back of the Marseille net before the Frenchman’s goal was ruled out for offside.
In scoring Liverpool’s opener, Szoboszlai became the first Reds player to score a direct free kick in the Champions League. Trent Alexander-Arnold against ranger people In October 2022. He became only the third Liverpool player to score or assist a goal in at least five consecutive Champions League matches, after Steven Gerrard and . mohammed salah.
The former player was watching Wednesday night’s clash from a London TV studio and was full of praise for Szoboszlai, who is the bearer of his iconic No.8 shirt.
“You can see he has confidence,” Gerrard told TNT Sports after the game.
“I like his confidence. I like that he supports himself. I think most players, if they had Mo Salah in their ear [wanting to take the free kick]I’ll digress, but I love the way Szoboszlai says: ‘Not a chance’.”
As far as support goes, it was brilliant for a player who looks set to emulate Gerrard one day by wearing the captain’s armband at Anfield. Szoboszlai’s strike was his seventh goal in all competitions this season – just one short of his total from last term – and although he could not add to that goal in the second half, he remained at the heart of Liverpool’s positive play.
The midfielder was unlucky not to claim an assist when he brilliantly played Akitike on goal on the hour mark, only for the striker to see his powerful effort hit the post. shortly afterwards, jeremy frimpong The visitors forced a second goal by getting to the byline and having his cutback diverted into the back of the net by a helpless Rulli.
The Reds’ third of the evening was brilliantly finished by the substitute kodi gakpo In stoppage time, but the goal was courtesy of Szoboszlai’s neat lay-off Ryan Gravenberch In the build-up.
Certainly, it is no surprise that Liverpool are Keen to sign the midfielder on a new long-term contract. This is the second consecutive European game where he has grabbed the headlines, as well as converting match-winning penalty away To international In early December.
At the time, Liverpool were in desperate need of a win to boost morale after a dramatic week in which Salah had made a sensational tackle on head coach Arne Slot. Accused the club of “throwing him under the bus”.
Salah was subsequently left out of the matchday squad at San Siro, but following his return he started against Marseille. Africa Cup of Nationswhere he helped egypt Finished fourth in Morocco.
The Egypt international played the full 90 minutes against Roberto De Zerbi’s side and, while his glaring miss late on is illustrative of his recent erratic form, his participation should at least draw a line under the stress of December and potentially mark the beginning of a renaissance for both him and his team.
Liverpool are now undefeated in 13 games in all competitions, the longest unbeaten streak of any team in Europe’s top five leagues.
It’s a statistic that doesn’t tell the whole story, with slots having come under criticism in recent weeks due to some of the results and performances. However, still, this is a run that seemed unimaginable when Liverpool were scoring goals early in the campaign.
Slot said after the match, “It could have been a difficult place and that’s because of their fans, but also because of their players and manager.”
“We had to be very good today, and we were. We should have done better on the counter-attack. We were very positive on the ball. We scored three and when we create five chances but score one everyone will be more positive.”
“In the last 13 games we have been unbeaten, we have only been behind 54 minutes. We had many chances before today to win it. Today, we probably deserved what we got. We were not as unlucky as we have been at times this season.”
While Slote is right to say that luck has not been on his side in recent months, he will know that the standards need to be raised if he is to convince his critics that he is the right man to lead the club long-term.
But, on the evidence of Wednesday’s performance, Liverpool still have a lot to live up to in this tumultuous season, especially if their star man Szoboszlai can continue to perform well.
