Dominik Szoboszlai had a mixed evening against Barnsley(Image: )
Talk about going from the sublime to the ridiculous. Such was a landmark evening, for more reasons than one, for Dominik Szoboszlai.
Ultimately, though, it ended with the Hungary international playing his part in helping Liverpool negotiate a potential banana skin and extend their unbeaten run to 11 games in all competitions.
While the final scoreline suggests a comfortable victory over plucky League One outfit Barnsley, this, though, does not take into account the season the Reds are experiencing under Arne Slot.
Having seemed on the way to a much-needed night of comfortable progress, Liverpool needed a late brace from substitutes Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike to eventually see off the visitors.
OPINION
And Szoboszlai was a central figure to the tale. First, in the ninth minute, came a blistering 25-yard shot for an early breakthrough that was doubled when Jeremie Frimpong scored a similarly impressive effort before the break.
It was Szoboszlai’s 100th career goal and a further example of how he has assumed greater responsibility this campaign with consistently impressive performances. He is a Liverpool captain in the making.
So it can only have been the obvious confidence coursing through his veins that, after tracking back to cut off a Barnsley attack four minutes ahead of half-time, persuaded him to attempt a gorssly mishit backheel inside his own six-yard box intended for goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili that instead invited former Reds striker Adam Phillips the simple task of tapping home.
It was right up there with Dijimi Traore at Burnley – that too an FA Cup third round tie back in 2005 – in the annals of absolutely horrific, comedy Liverpool blunders.
But while Szoboszlai and the home support were far from amused in the immediate aftermath, the midfielder didn’t allow his monumental error to define the game, responding in the second half with a performance all the more impressive given he spent much of it reprising his role as emergency right-back.
That was put to the test with one strong run from Reyes Cleary that saw Szoboszlai nick the ball away just in time with the Barnsley bench screaming for a penalty.
And the Hungarian was still running hard during additional time with his ball over the top allowing Wirtz to tee up Ekitike for the fourth.
At the full-time whistle, Szoboszlai produced something akin to a cartwheel as if to shake clear the memory of his earlier error. But his subsequent showing means he’ll be able to look back at it and laugh. Well, at some point at least.