Liverpool beat Inter Milan thanks to Dominic Szoboszlai's hugely controversial penalty.
The Reds looked to be sharing the points with the Serie A giants in an improved performance from Arne Slot and his players. But an incredibly soft VAR intervention for a pull on Florian Wirtz in the 88th minute gifted the visitors the chance to take all three points, which the Hungarian did, clinically.
The build-up to the game was dominated by only one story - Mohamed Salah’s outburst at Leeds on Saturday, where he claimed the club and Arne Slot have ‘thrown him under the bus’ after being left an unused substitute in two of the last three games, has left a cloud over the squad.
Despite training with the rest of the team on Monday, it was announced hours later that Salah would not travel to Milan for the game. A decision made by Slot and the Anfield hierarchy, nailing their support for the under-pressure boss.
Salah’s omission was added to by Cody Gakpo and Federico Chiesa’s absence, leaving the Dutchman without any out-and-out senior wingers – forcing his hand to change the system completely.
Slot shifted his usual 4-2-3-1 shape to a diamond 4-4-2, deploying Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike as the leading two strikers from the off for the first time since their summer arrivals. While Dominic Szoboszlai tucked in from the right.
But despite the intricate system having a No.10 role, Florian Wirtz was dropped to the bench for Alexis Mac Allister, with Slot expressing his concerns over the German’s fitness to play a fourth game in 10 days.
And straight off the bat, Liverpool looked comfortable playing that way. The four midfielders frustrated and limited Inter’s ability to move the ball quickly between the lines. And the two strikers being more than happy to drop off and link up the play gave the visitors reason to be concerned defending in the transition.
Liverpool would have been happy with their work in the opening half an hour, limiting the Serie A’s best attacking team to little, and it looked as though they had got their reward for their hard work when Ibrahima Konate headed in the game’s opening goal from a corner.
However, following a five-minute VAR check, referee Felix Zwayer chalked the goal off after Virgil van Dijk headed the ball onto the arm of Hugo Ekitike, deflecting the ball to Konate. A decision that former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer called “harsh”.
The first-half ended goalless, with the Reds praised for being “solid and better” by Amazon Prime commentator Jon Champion, without being overly inspiring.
Liverpool again looked comfortable in the second-half, frustrating Inter and their fans, but the game continued in the same vein.
Isak’s fitness was again an issue as the striker tired immensely, even by the end of the first-half, and was replaced on the hour by Wirtz, who joined Ekitike up front.
The game looked to be heading to a boring stalemate, but Liverpool were gifted a farcical penalty on a busy night for VAR. Florian Wirtz threw himself to the ground after being beaten in the air by Alessandro Bastoni.
Former Premier League referee slammed the decision, saying: "Mark Clattenburg: "As much as we agree as football people, this is the issue with VAR. He'll give the penalty because of slo-mo replays".
Szoboszlai stepped up from the spot to beat Sommer and give the Reds a crucial three points in their Champions League campaign.