A penalty to win it at San Siro. Perhaps Mohamed Salah, wherever he was watching it, reflected that he could have been taking it. Instead, with the Egyptian in exile, it was Dominik Szoboszlai, who first took his spot on the right wing and now his role as the spot-kick specialist, who dispatched it, brilliantly.
And this was a brilliant win for Arne Slot, a brilliant night for Liverpool. Salah missed it, missed the chance to secure a famous victory. Because what started out as the calm after the storm, a quietly ordered performance, became something more. Liverpool have beaten Arsenal and Real Madrid but the context made this their best result of the season.
Generous as the award of the penalty was, it produced an endorsement of a beleaguered manager. Internazionale, Champions League finalists last season, unbeaten in 18 group-stage games at San Siro, were defeated by the depleted. Slot showed he could win in Milan without Salah; without a host of others, too. His name echoed from the top tiers of one of Europe’s great grounds, chanted by the Liverpool supporters. In a week when Slot has been tested, he emerged triumphant and popular.
“The fans sing for me, that means a lot,” he added. And while he said it was not about him, Salah ensured it was. Slot drew a response from his players. Each performed in a manner to suggest that he, unlike Salah, still has a relationship with the head coach. There was a collective commitment, players putting the team first. No one was thrown under the bus, though some seemed willing to throw themselves in front of shots. Liverpool looked less like a club in crisis than a team with a point to prove.
And Slot showed his flexibility. This was an old-school European performance. It had the air of an away game overseen by Rafa Benitez or Gerard Houllier, not Slot.
If he has had plenty of other things to occupy him in the last few days, the Dutchman found time to construct a different gameplan. He showed he can change. Lacking Salah or anyone remotely resembling a winger, he opted for a diamond of four central midfielders. There was a pragmatism to the rethink; even using Alexis Mac Allister at the tip of the diamond got Szoboszlai’s running power on the right. In a new formation, Curtis Jones was the outstanding player on the pitch.
Liverpool showed they could defend. They have conceded 38 goals this season but shut out Serie A’s top scorers. Apart from a terrific save from Alisson on the stroke of half-time, repelling Lautaro Martinez’s header, the goalkeeper was rarely tested. His colleagues saw to that. “I would like to highlight one who has been highlighted in a negative way and that is Ibou Konate,” said Slot. “He played an outstanding game against two very good strikers,” said Slot. Liverpool had concentration, determination, organisation; qualities they have not always combined this season. “The players showed great mentality,” said Slot.
There was something symbolic that it was Szoboszlai, Liverpool’s player of the season, who gave them their reward. “It is special what he is doing physically and also football-wise,” said Slot. He stood up in a difficult moment.” Szoboszlai had never taken a spot kick in a game for Liverpool before but he fired this into the roof of the net.
The gentlest of tugs had been scarcely the wisest, Alessandro Bastoni grabbing Florian Wirtz’s shirt. Referee Felix Zwayer viewed the damning still on a monitor. “We lost the game on a big incident,” rued Inter manager Cristian Chivu. Slot concurred, to some extent. “If that was a penalty, we could have got 10 this season,” he said. But he feels unlucky over the course of the campaign. If VAR cost Liverpool a goal on the night, it afforded them one.
Briefly, Liverpool thought they had a first-half lead. Konate had what seemed a redemptive goal ruled out, with the ball coming to him via Hugo Ekitike’s arm; it took an interminably long VAR review to disallow it. It stemmed from Szoboszlai’s corner but, to borrow from Slot’s language, Liverpool were to end with a positive set-piece balance when the Hungarian converted from 12 yards.
In a game of patience, they had other chances. Yann Sommer was the busier goalkeeper, denying Jones and Ryan Gravenberch in the space of a few seconds in the opening 20 minutes. When the substitute Conor Bradley threatened, Sommer made a near-post save. Liverpool finished the stronger, and their other replacement made a difference. Slot had little in reserve. “We had only 13 outfield players available with Premier League or Champions League experience,” he added.
Like Bradley, Wirtz began on the bench. This was not cue for a Salah-esque strop from the £100m man. He instead came on for Alexander Isak, who started alongside Ekitike for just the second time; typically, the Frenchman looked fitter and sharper. If Isak had completed the 90 minutes, maybe he would have been on spot-kick duties. Instead, Szoboszlai stepped up.
He took his chance but this was a missed opportunity for Inter. They lacked urgency, misplaced too many passes, incurred a second straight Champions League defeat. While Liverpool had suffered from injuries before the game, Inter during it. They lost Hakan Calhanoglu after 10 minutes and Francesco Acerbi on the half-hour. Yet Inter still could have done more to expose Liverpool’s vulnerabilities.
Instead, Slot was to emerge far stronger. A team that had lost nine games in a run of 12 are now unbeaten in four. That began with Salah being dropped. Slot made a major decision then, a second when leaving Salah at home because of his explosive comments at Leeds. On both counts, he looks right.