Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai apologized to his teammates after erroneously giving away a goal during the Red’s third round FA Cup tie against League One strugglers Barnsley on Monday night.
Szoboszlai had initially given Liverpool the lead at Anfield, courtesy of a wonderful long-range strike in the opening ten minutes before teammate Jeremie Frimpong banged in an equally impressive strike 26 minutes later to double the lead.
The Hungarian however contrived to make matters a little bit complicated for his team just four minutes later when he gifted a goal to Barnsley’s Adam Phillips by attempting a backheel pass to Giorgi Mamardashvili inside his six-yard box.
At 2-1, the game remained a tightly contested encounter until the 84th minute when Liverpool breached Barnsley’s back line through Florian Wirtz. The German would later turn provider and tee up Hugo Ekitike just minutes later to seal a deserved 4-1 win.
Speaking after full-time, Szoboszlai, who completed 100+ passes (105) and won possession 10+ times (12) in a Man of the Match performance, wasted no time in owning up to his part in complicating the game.
“Sorry to the team again – I made it hard for us,” Szoboszlai told TNT Sports after the game. “It was an easy mistake, I would say. But football happens, so yeah, we move to the next round.”
Liverpool manager Arne Slot also shared his thoughts about the incident at full-time. While the Dutchman was obviously disappointed, he insisted that he would address the matter privately with his player.
“I don’t think you should do that in an FA Cup game or League Cup, a friendly game or even a training session,” Slot said of Szoboszlai’s mistake.
“It’s a weird choice, and I also have my opinion about it, but I prefer to keep that to myself and speak about that with Dom.”
The win over Barnsley means that Liverpool have now progressed from 14 of their last 15 FA Cup third round ties. This impressive record is the joint-most (alongside Chelsea and Manchester City) for any team in England.
Having booked their place in the fourth round of the competition, the Reds will have to go past Brighton to progress even further. For now though, they return to Premier League action this weekend with Burnley paying a visit to Anfield.
