Dominik Szoboszlai delivered both brilliance and blunder as Liverpool eased past League One side Barnsley with a 4–1 victory at Anfield on Monday night to book their place in the FA Cup fourth round.
The Hungarian midfielder opened the scoring in spectacular fashion, unleashing a thunderous long-range strike into the top corner to give the Reds an early lead.
Liverpool doubled their advantage before half-time through Jeremie Frimpong, putting Arne Slot’s side firmly in control.
However, Szoboszlai handed Barnsley a lifeline early in the second half after a careless attempted backheel inside his own penalty area allowed Adam Phillips to pounce and fire home from close range.
Barnsley manager Conor Hourihane was left furious when his side were denied a penalty midway through the half, following what appeared to be a trip by Szoboszlai on Reyes Cleary.
With Liverpool struggling to regain attacking fluency, Slot turned to his bench just after the hour mark, introducing Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Ibrahima Konaté and Ryan Gravenberch.
The changes proved decisive late on. With six minutes remaining, Ekitike produced a clever flick to find Wirtz, who curled a superb finish into the top corner for his third goal in five games since opening his Liverpool account.
The duo combined again in stoppage time, this time with Wirtz turning provider as he squared unselfishly for Ekitike to tap in and seal the win.
Liverpool will now host Brighton — conquerors of Manchester United — in the fourth round of the competition.
AFP
