Dominik Szoboszlai was on track for Player of the Match status even before his sensational free kick lifted Liverpool to a 1-0 win over Arsenal at Anfield on Sunday.
“Since we started the season we practiced some free kicks,” Szoboszlai. “It did feel a bit farther but I wanted to take a risk. I was confident in myself and I tried it. Finally.”
Why finally?
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To hear Szoboszlai say it, the goal was a long time coming thanks to a superstar former teammate keeping set-piece opportunities quite limited the last few seasons.
This time, without Trent Alexander-Arnold to lord over a far-out free kick, Szoboszlai smashed it.
“I should mention Trent was taking the free kicks and he has an unbelievable shot but I finally got to do it,” Szoboszlai said. “To be honest this shot I did not practice in the last few weeks because we were shooting from closer and this was a different shot. I knew Raya likes to jump behind the wall and of course he’s an unbelievable goalkeeper.”
The win is big for Liverpool and Szoboszlai acknowledged that, too.
“[Arsenal] had an unbelievable season last season and of course the two before that,” he said. “Three times in a row to come second is a compliment. To keep on going behind with City, with us, with Chelsea, is really hard and they always do it. They have an unbelievable team, an unbelievable coach.”