Arne Slot unimpressed with 'Dominik Szoboszlai mistake' despite Liverpool's Barnsley win

Liverpool looked in full control early on when Szoboszlai opened the scoring with a stunning long-range strike, firing into the top corner to give the home crowd an early lift. Jeremie Frimpong doubled the lead before half-time, and the tie appeared to be heading for a comfortable night.

However, Slot's frustration centred on a moment just before the break. Szoboszlai attempted a casual backheel inside his own penalty area, lost control, and allowed Adam Phillips to pull a goal back for the League One side.

"I don't think you should do that in a FA Cup game, or a League Cup game, or in a friendly game, or in a training session," Slot said. "It was a weird choice. I also have my opinion about it but I prefer to keep that to myself and speak about that with Dom."

Barnsley manager Conor Hourihane also criticised the moment, describing it as disrespectful, and later felt his side should have been awarded a penalty for a second-half challenge by Szoboszlai on Reyes Cleary.

With the game tighter than expected, Slot introduced Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Ibrahima Konate and Ryan Gravenberch just after the hour mark. Liverpool still struggled to find rhythm until the closing stages.

The breakthrough came six minutes from time when Ekitike flicked the ball into Wirtz's path, and the German curled home his third goal in five games. In stoppage time, Wirtz returned the favour, crossing for Ekitike to tap in.

"We scored nice goals but for too long the game was tight," Slot added. "At 2-0 up, giving a goal away like that made it difficult until the last 10 minutes."

Liverpool were rewarded with a home tie against Brighton in the fourth round.