Midfielder went low after Marseille set up wall without draft excluder; Hungarian “really happy” Salah is back
Dominik Szoboszlai says he did his homework before attempting a cunning low freekick to give Liverpool the lead against Marseille.
In a dangerous area just outside the box, the French side set up a wall without a draft excluder, allowing the Hungarian to hit low after the players forming the wall jumped up.
It gave Liverpool a vital lead heading into the break, before two goals in the second half sealed a comfortable win in France.
“I did my homework and got told that if no one is lying down, then maybe I can have a chance to hit it under the wall,” Szoboszlai said. “No one was lying down so I tried it and it worked out.”
Mohamed Salah was back on the Liverpool squad after returning from the Africa Cup of Nations. In the Egyptian’s absence, Szoboszlai took over all set-piece duties, and he revealed the conversation he had with Salah before he took the latest one.
“He asked me if I want to take it,” Szoboszlai said. “I said yes because I checked if no one is lying down I’m going to take it under the wall. He said ‘OK then take it’ and yeah I scored.”
On his teammate’s return to the side, the midfielder said: “I’m really happy that he’s back. He’s helping the team on the pitch but off the pitch as well.
“As you know I’m really close with him, and I just like to play with him because he showed so many times that he has the quality to change games. And even though he didn’t have a goal or assist today, still he was working hard.
“Sometimes you have to close our eyes and work hard for the team and probably next game he will score or assist someone.”
