Few score from 30 yards and create a goal with a backheel in the same game. When a player does, it could be cause for unadulterated joy. 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.
And if he has been a central figure this season, Szoboszlai has usually been the anomaly, the one who was blameless. Not this time, though a gaffe at least made for a competitive cup tie and allowed Adam Phillips to realise an ambition: though the former Liverpool trainee’s goal in front of the Kop came in the white of Barnsley. Szoboszlai had first showed his side the way and was then punished for his showboating. But only Hugo Ekitike has more goals for Liverpool this season and, ultimately, his sixth of the campaign brought a passage to the fourth round.
On the day a former Liverpool favourite, Xabi Alonso, became an unemployed manager, victory may have been timely for Arne 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. The Dutchman seemed to take no risks with his selection, making six changes but with Rio Ngumoha the sole youngster to start and he stacked his bench with big names. Perhaps he was scarred by last season’s defeat to Plymouth, when most of his replacements were rookies.
When Liverpool’s lead sometimes seemed precarious, Slot made a triple change to bring on Ibrahima Konate, Florian Wirtz and Ekitike, who have a combined cost of over £200m. If Barnsley could take that as a compliment, the replacements duly clinched victory: 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 provided a relatively simple finish.
It followed three crackers from Liverpool. Slot often says they need a set-piece or a moment of magic to unlock a low block. As Barnsley played 5-4-1, the Premier League champions got three of the latter.
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. It was his first goal at Anfield. A scorer of 28 goals in his last three seasons for Bayer Leverkusen, he can rank among the most prolific of right-backs. 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. Having covered to get the ball, he then presented Phillips with a tap in with an attempt to be too clever. Slot did not look amused.
His night just got harder. It had almost begun terribly. Liverpool had defended wonderfully against Arsenal but started shambolically. With 28 seconds gone and Joe Gomez at fault, Davis Keillor-Dunn headed Phillips’ cross against the post.
Liverpool responded but theirs was a mixed performance: too ponderous in possession at times while Federico Chiesa was utterly ineffectual on a rare start. The feeling was they needed a third goal. Virgil van Dijk hooked a half-volley that Cooper did well to tip on to the bar. Perhaps Wirtz should have scored from a wonderful Szoboszlai cross. When he did find the net, it is safe to assume Szoboszlai had a sense of relief. His aberration had not cost Liverpool.
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