Inter Milan 0-1 Liverpool Report: Szoboszlai Penalty Vindicates Slot's 'Salah Gamble'

Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai scored a controversial penalty in the 88th minute as Liverpool pulled off a San Siro shocker 1-0, playing without Mohamed Salah. It was Inter Milan’s first home loss in the Champions League since 2022.

First Half

Both teams were feeling each other out for the first five minutes feeling each other out In fact,t neither team mounted a serious threat until Curtis Jones and Ryan Gravenberch forced back-to-back saves in the 18th minute.

Gravenberch continued to play well as he was paired with three other midfielders to help hold possession. Hugo Ekitiké forced a save in the 29th minute. Ibrahima Konate sent the resulting corner in the back of the net with a header, but after a VAR review, the goal was chalked off.

That seemed to wake Inter up, earning a corner and a dangerous free kick, but they both went wide. Gravenberch tracked back for a couple of big clearances, and Alisson saved Lautaro Martínez’s header deep in first-half stoppage time to keep the match scoreless at the half.

First Half Analysis

Liverpool are a bit unlucky not to be up 1-0, but a 50/50 went against the Reds on VAR review of Konate’s goal. Even so, Liverpool are playing pretty well and need to keep up the defensive intensity as Inter have started to boss the game. If the Reds wear down, the goals could come in bunches for Inter.

Second Half

Both teams had chances to push forward in the early in the second half but poor touches in the final third kept the match level. Gravenberch delivered a brilliant cross near the hour mark, but it was blocked away.

Virgil van Dijk cleared away danger as Inter started finding joy down the left-hand side.  Ekitiké forced a save in the 63rd minute and had another shot blocked away in the 69th. From that point, it seemed as if both teams were afraid to commit numbers forward and open themselves up at the back.

Conor Bradley forced a save in the 81st minute, and then Florian Wirtz had his shirt pulled in the box. While the referee initially said the play was clean, VAR intervened and awarded the penalty. Dominik Szoboszlai buried the shot from the spot as the Reds took a 1-0 lead and then were able to see out the result.

Rapid Reaction

It wasn’t the most beautiful game of football I have ever seen, but Liverpool got a massive 3 points when they needed them most. The two crucial VAR decisions will be hotly debated by fans across Europe for a while, but one thing is clear. As stated in my preview, Liverpool tend to get a result when they need it the most, and that’s exactly what they did.