December 10, (THEWILL) — Dominik Szoboszlai converted an 88th-minute penalty to hand Liverpool a 1-0 victory over Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League at San Siro on Wednesday evening.
The Hungary international sent his spot-kick into the left side of the net after Alessandro Bastoni hauled down Florian Wirtz inside the area. The win lifted Arne Slot’s team to eighth in the standings.
Liverpool travelled to Italy without Mohamed Salah, who was dropped after his controversial post-match comments following the 3-3 draw with Leeds United.
The Reds dominated early proceedings, with Yann Sommer producing a double save to deny Curtis Jones and Ryan Gravenberch. However, Inter suffered setbacks when both Hakan Calhanoglu and Francesco Acerbi left the pitch injured.
The visitors thought they had opened the scoring after 32 minutes when Ibrahima Konate headed in from close range, but a lengthy VAR review disallowed the goal.
Virgil van Dijk had inadvertently knocked the ball onto Hugo Ekitike’s arm during the build-up. Inter responded with increased pressure before the interval, with Nicolo Barella’s free-kick sailing narrowly wide and both Piotr Zielinski and Lautaro Martinez forcing Alisson into action during stoppage time.
The second half remained tight, with Ekitike firing a long-range effort straight at Sommer just past the hour mark.
Liverpool gradually gained the upper hand, keeping the Italian side pinned back in their own half. Substitute Conor Bradley tested Sommer with a drive that required a diving save at the near post.
The breakthrough arrived two minutes from full-time when Bastoni unnecessarily grabbed Wirtz’s shirt, prompting the referee to point to the spot.
Szoboszlai stepped up and dispatched the penalty with confidence to claim all three points for the visitors.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
