Szoboszlai: ‘I did my homework’ on trick free kick

Dominik Szoboszlai said his “homework” paid off on his trick free kick that gave Liverpool the lead in a 3-0 win at Marseille in the Champions League on Wednesday.

The game was goalless entering stoppage time at the end of the first half when Liverpool were awarded a free kick for a foul 20 yards from the Marseille goal.

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Four Marseille players stood in a defensive wall with no extra protection from a teammate lying stretched on the turf behind them, intended to block a low shot when they all jump.

All four Marseille players leaped in unison, and Szoboszlai struck his shot low and true beneath them, beyond the dive of goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli.

That prone position is a relatively recent addition to soccer’s defensive strategy and is commonly seen — just not this time at the Velodrome.

“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 told TNT Sports. “No one was lying down so I tried it and it worked out.”

Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi admitted it was a “silly goal” for Marseille to concede.

Szoboszlai was given the responsibility of taking the free kick, despite the return of Mohamed Salah.

The Egyptian forward was named in the starting lineup for the first time since a 4-1 home loss against PSV Eindhoven on Nov. 26.

“Well we will always discuss it,” Szoboszlai said of his conversations with Salah over free kicks.

“He asked me if I want to take it, I said yes because I checked if no one is laying down I’m going to take it under the wall. He said ‘OK then take it’ and yeah I scored.”

Salah endured a turbulent month at Liverpool — before going to the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco — that led many fans to wonder if the 33-year-old’s stellar nine-season stay at Anfield was over.

Salah had said in December he felt “thrown under the bus” and was being made a scapegoat — a post-game outburst at Leeds after spending the entirety of a 3-3 draw on the bench.

But Szoboszlai welcomed Salah’s immediate return to the lineup following the end of AFCON this past weekend.

“I’m really happy that he’s back,” he said. “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.”

Salah’s performance also earned praise from Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.

“It says a lot about how big a professional he is that he can be away for more than a month with a different team and be so fit to play 90 for us after one day’s training,” Slot told reporters.

“He was so close to a goal, it would usually be a goal from him, but it didn’t harm us because we scored three.”

Liverpool added to Szoboszlai’s free kick in the second half with a Rulli own goal, diverting Jeremie Frimpong‘s low pass into the goal mouth, and substitute Cody Gakpo‘s stoppage-time shot.

The win lifted the Premier League champions into fourth in the Champions League standings, two points ahead of ninth-placed Barcelona, with Qarabag to come at home next week. The top eight teams in the league phase will secure a direct place in the last 16 and avoid the playoff round.

“It’s very important because we have had to play with the same players because of injuries for most of the season,” said Slot, whose side side extended their unbeaten run to 13 matches.

“That could be the reason why we have run out of energy in some of the games when we’ve conceded.

“I don’t think Virgil [van Dijk] has had more than three days off, the same for Ryan [Gravenberch] and others but they constantly show up no matter how many setbacks we’ve had this season.”

The Associated Press and PA contributed to this report.