Online Reporter
Liverpool shrugged off the absence of Mohamed Salah as midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai scored an 88th-minute penalty to give them a 1-0 Champions League win at Inter Milan on Tuesday that boosts their hopes of a top-eight finish.
With the shadow of absent winger Salah’s recent falling-out with head coach Arne Slot still hanging over them, Liverpool needed a positive result, but Inter made it hard for them until a late loss of concentration cost them dearly.
With the game heading for a draw, Alessandro Bastoni tugged on Florian Wirtz’s shirt and the German’s theatrical tumble in the box alerted the VAR, who told the referee to take a second look.
Szoboszlai stepped up and slammed the ball past keeper Yann Sommer to lift his side to eighth place in the table on 12 points after six of their eight group games. With the top eight qualifying directly for the last 16, Inter are in fifth place, also on 12 points but with a superior goal difference.
Curtis Jones got the visitors off to a promising start when he tested Inter keeper Sommer with an early shot, but the Merseysiders quickly got bogged down as Inter’s disciplined defending offered them few opportunities.
Liverpool thought they had taken the lead through a close-range header from Ibrahima Konate just after the half-hour mark, but a lengthy VAR review saw the goal chalked off for a Hugo Ekitike handball moments before.
Inter headed into the break having already made two substitutions as both Hakan Calhanoglu and Francesco Acerbi were forced off due to injury, but they more than held their own in the second half before coming unstuck late on.
Meanwhile, the shadow of Mohamed Salah’s bust-up with Liverpool hung over the team on Tuesday. Salah was left out of Tuesday’s squad by coach Arne Slot after his withering comments on Saturday, when he accused the club of throwing him under the bus having been left on the bench during a 3-3 Premier League draw with Leeds United.
When asked ahead of Tuesday’s game if Salah had played his last game for the club, Slot said he had “no clue”.
With the travelling fans singing the coach’s name after the final whistle against Inter, Slot took a slightly more conciliatory line towards Salah, suggesting that the player may have spoken in the heat of the moment after the disappointing draw with Leeds.
Yet he also suggested the responsibility may rest with Salah to repair the damage.
“You concede, and then a lot of things are being said. Normally, that affects players as well, because he’s been so influential for the club and the players, so it’s never nice when something happens to their team-mates,” Slot said.
“Everyone makes mistakes in life, but does the player know he’s made a mistake? Should the initiative (to make things right) come from him or me? That’s another question,” he added.
Liverpool have one more Premier League game against Brighton & Hove Albion before Salah departs to play with Egypt in the African Cup of Nations on Dec. 15.
Salah is the third-highest scorer in Liverpool’s history behind Ian Rush and Roger Hunt with 250 goals in all competitions and defender Andy Robertson said he hoped the Egyptian’s time at the club was not over. “That’ll be up to other people. It’s not up to me, but I love playing with Mo Salah, and I hope to continue to play with him,” the 31-year-old said.
Crowned Premier League champions under Slot last season with Salah contributing 34 goals and 18 assists in 52 games across all competitions, Liverpool have struggled to find their best form so far this term, but Tuesday’s win might give them some breathing-room.
“We know we’re in not the best moment, we know the results haven’t been good enough, we know the performances haven’t been good enough. So it’s important that this club is in the Champions League, and then when you are you have to compete in it,” Robertson said.
“The supporters expect us to go far in it (the Champions League), so we need to up our performances to get through and then to hopefully build momentum, so it was a huge result for all of us.” – Reuters
