Liverpool 4-1 Barnsley: FA Cup third round - live reaction

Key events

Show key events only

Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature

“Nice to see Cleary swapping shirts with Szoboslai after the match,” emails Colum Fordham. “Two of the protagonists of the match, although the latter blotted his copybook somewhat with that backheel. Cleary is definitely a player to watch. Liverpool could do a lot worse than put in a bid.”

Share

Szoboszlai, who scored a barnstorming opening goal for Liverpool and made an unbelievable gaffe for Barnsley’s goal, speaks to TNT Sports about that error:

Sorry for the team. I made it hard for us with an easy mistake. Football happens, we move on. We take the next round.

We wanted to show that we take it seriously. We showed we need the whole squad. They showed quality. We need more time to get to know each other better. We developed a lot. The new guys have settled in. I’m happy for Flo, for Hugo.

Share

Updated at 16.44 EST

Full-time: Liverpool 4-1 Barnsley

A scoreline that doesn’t tell the whole picture. And as pleased as they will be about their performance, Barnsley will be furious about that penalty (non) decision when the scores were 2-1.

Share

GOAL! Liverpool 4-1 Barnsley (Ekitike 90+5)

Wirtz breaks the offside trap and lays a great square ball across to Ekitike, who taps in at the back post. This scoreline flatters Liverpool.

Share

Updated at 16.44 EST

90+3 min: Another sensational cross from Cleary that bamboozled both Van Dijk and Mamardashvili, but McGoldrick loops his header just over the bar. Barnsley could easily have scored two or three here.

Share

90+2 min: O’Keeffe plays a lovely one-two with McGoldrick and goes clean through on goal for Barnsley. But the winger has run his socks off tonight and labours towards goal. Konate, fresh on as a sub, gets back well to make a crucial tackle.

Share

90 min: Five minutes of additional time. Barnsley’s race is run, but they should be hugely proud of their performance. Not for the first time against lower-league opposition, Liverpool have been made to feel very uncomfortable.

Share

88 min: Cleary is still giving Szoboszlai a hard time on Barnsley’s left wing. The 21-year-old crosses low towards McGoldrick but Van Dijk clears the danger. Cleary goes again, taking on Szoboszlai, to win a Barnsley corner in front of the smiling away fans. If the winger doesn’t win the player of the match, I’ll be shocked.

Share

86 min: Cooper in the Barnsley goal hasn’t put a foot or hand wrong all night. The three goals he has conceded have been out of this world, all of them goal of the month contenders.

Share

GOAL! Liverpool 3-1 Barnsley (Wirtz 84)

Another sublime Liverpool goal! Ekitike delightfully flicks the ball into path of Wirtz, who takes a touch and bends a brilliant R2 finish into the top corner!

Share

Updated at 16.39 EST

82 min: Barnsley look like they have run out of energy. They are defending for their lives but don’t look to have the same thrust going forward on the counter-attack.

Share

80 min: Barnsley make another change: the excellent Keillor-Dunn, who hit a post after 28 seconds, is withdrawn for the veteran McGoldrick.

Share

78 min: Liverpool look the more likely to score next, but the hosts’ one-goal lead is still a perilous one. Liverpool are again guilty of overplaying as Ekitike chooses not to pull the trigger when Wirtz lofts a deft pass over the top. Weird! Shoot!

Share

Big miss from Wirtz!

76 min: Say what you want about Szoboszlai, the man knows how to cross a ball. The Hungarian, filling in at right-back, delivers a cross that Trent Alexander-Arnold would salivate at but rather than cushion a relatively easy volley towards goal, Wirtz goes with the outside of his right foot, sending his finish high into the Kop. Groans. That was a golden chance to kill the game.

Share

Updated at 16.24 EST

74 min: Changes from both sides. Liverpool are forced to take Ngumoha off, with Gravenberch coming on. That means Wirtz will go to the left, Gakpo to the right, Ekitike up top.

Barnsley make a double substitution: Eoghan O-Connell and Patrick Kelly on for Nathanael Ogbeta and Adam Phillips. The latter, Barnsley’s goalscorer that came through the academy at Liverpool, gets a standing ovation from both sets of supporters.

Share

72 min: Ngumoha looks like he has pulled a hamstring, which is a real shame for the Liverpool teenager.

Share

Szoboszlai clears one off the line for Liverpool!

70 min: Barnsley are pushing for an equaliser! Phillips nearly gets a second goal of the game but his bouncing shot is blocked by Liverpool’s Szoboszlai on the line!

Share

68 min: Easily the best player on the pitch is Barnsley’s Cleary. Every touch is full of quality, including a neat back heel to set the visitors away on another counter attack. Liverpool now double up on Cleary, who responds by delivering an outrageous cross across the face of Liverpool’s goal. The 21-year-old, who left West Brom in the summer, is playing like an international winger.

Share

66 min: Barnsley manager Hourihane has now seen the penalty decision on a monitor and is absolutely raging inside his technical area, telling the fourth official a thing or two with some choice language. He is booked for his outburst.

Share

64 min: As the furore of the penalty decision still bubbles away, Van Dijk connects with a Gakpo cross and nods just a yard wide!

Share

62 min: This is such a close call. Szoboszlai definitely had a bit of Cleary’s shirt but the Liverpool man did get a crucial touch on the ball. Tin hat on, but I think the referee just about made the right call. But there are many that will see it differently.

“Sorry, but the ref has got that completely wrong,” emails Joshua Keeling. “That was a nailed on penalty for Barnsley, and probably a red card as well.

Share

Huge penalty shout for Barnsley!

60 min: Cleary turns on the burners and powers beyond Szoboszlai towards goal. Just as the Barnsley winger – who, by the way, has been sensational on this left flank – is about the pull the trigger, Szoboszlai makes a challenge from behind, flooring Cleary. The referee waves play on! Barnsley are furious! The fans behind the goal and manager Hourihane are absolutely bereft. Remember, no VAR in the FA Cup until the fifth round.

Share

Updated at 16.10 EST

58 min: Liverpool’s tepid display in this second half has forced Slot to make a triple substitution just before the hour mark. Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike and Ibrahima Konate are on for Jeremie Frimpong, Federico Chiesa and Joe Gomez. Szoboszlai is still on.

Share

A world-class save from Cooper denies Van Dijk!

56 min: Szoboszlai crosses and the ball falls kindly to Van Dijk, who volleys at goal … the ball bounces towards the top corner … but Cooper sticks out a right arm and tips the ball onto the crossbar and behind. TNT’s Ally McCoist likens the save to Jim Montgomery’s effort for Sunderland against Leeds in the 1973 FA Cup final, to give you some idea of the quality of the stop.

Share

54 min: Re that Gomez goal drought, Philip Cornwall emails:

“Liverpool fans at Anfield matches are divided into two groups: a small number who shout: “Shooooot!” every time Gomez gets the ball within 35 yards of the centre of goal; and a much larger number who tut politely about the other group, and observe good-naturedly that perhaps his limited shooting ability may have had an impact on that statistic.”

Share

Updated at 16.05 EST

52 min: Ngumoha dances in the Barnsley box and hangs a lovely little cross to the back post. Gakpo is caught on his heels. Liverpool are really missing a proper No 9 at the moment.

Share

50 min: Another good start to his half from Barnsley, who look a real threat. Cleary is flagged for offside when he was clearly onside. No VAR at Anfield tonight, remember.

Share

48 min: Cleary goes past Frimpong and delivers an excellent low cross. The winger is a real threat for Barnsley down this left and now draws a foul from Chiesa.

Cleary scored an outrageous goal a couple of months back at Bradford City in League One. Check this out.

Share

Peeeeeeeeep!

We’re underway again at Anfield. Notably, no changes from either side.

Share

A few more of you have emailed in about Szoboszlai’s error, which is genuinely one of the moments of the season so far.

“Hilarious goal for Barnsley but kudus for Phillips for keeping going,” writes Tim Stappard.

“Execution of the pass was just horrendous,” emails Joey O’Doherty. “That’s why you don’t do daft think in your own box.”

“I’m trying to imagine what an old school Souness or Fergie reaction to that mess would be,” says Matthew Lysaght. “Dom would definitely need to bring his dinner.”

“The most ridiculous FA Cup goal Liverpool have conceded since Traoré against Burnley all those years ago,” adds Matt Dony. “Of course, Liverpool won the Champions League that year …”

Share

Updated at 16.05 EST

“All right, I love Szoboszlai as much as anyone, but he should be subbed straight off for that,” emails Mike Taylor. “It wasn’t an error in execution, it was an idiotic bit of long-premature showboating, and it got exactly what it deserved. Get him off the pitch, and have him sit and think about what he’s done.”

I completely agree. Replays show that Szoboszlai knew exactly what he was doing – or at least thought he knew – and tried to deceive Phillips with a backheel INSIDE HIS OWN SIX-YARD BOX. It was both a terrible decision and terrible execution. It’s extremely funny to watch as a neutral but ultimately, it’s unprofessional and everyone inside that Liverpool dressing room should take an extremely dim view of that. Slot has an opportunity to send a message here, and he should swap Szoboszlai for Gravenberch/Wirtz/Endo/Nyoni/anyone else.

Share

Half-time reading:

Share

Half-time: Liverpool 2-1 Barnsley

The League One side are definitely in this game. Szoboszlai shakes his head as he leaves the field. Barnsley fans cheer their team in encouragement.

Share

45 min: Anfield is deathly quiet, possibly out of embarrassment for Szoboszlai. The Barnsley fans are the only ones daring to make any noise at all.

Two minutes added on here.

Share

43 min: I am genuinely a little shellshocked at that. Szoboszlai is an absolutely elite footballer but that is the sort of error my four-year-old would make in the garden (which I would have stuck away, naturally. He has to learn one way or the other).

Share

GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 Barnsley (Phillips 40)

A calamitous goal for Liverpool to concede as Szoboszlai makes a monumental error! This is Sunday league stuff from arguably Liverpool’s player of the season! After Szoboszlai tracks back nicely to stop Barnsley’s Phillips from latching onto a through ball, the Hungarian dribbles back into his own six-yard box, botches a back-heel, presenting Phillips with a tap in from just three yards out. I have never ever seen a goal like it! What on earth was Szoboszlai trying to do? If he was trying to backheel it to Mamardashvili, he must have known that Phillips was already on his shoulder?! Utterly bizarre!

Share

Updated at 15.58 EST

Click here to read article