Andy Robertson has said it was “unacceptable” that Liverpool conceded a goal in comical fashion against Barnsley when Dominik Szoboszlai tried a backheel on the edge of his own six-yard box.
The Hungary midfielder apologised after the final whistle for his part in Adam Phillips’ goal and Robertson revealed he had said sorry to his teammates at half-time.
Head coach Arne Slot branded it a “weird choice” by Szoboszlai and said it was something he should not do in a training session, let alone an FA Cup game, while Barnsley manager Conor Hourihane called him “disrespectful”.
Robertson said goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili was unhappy to concede like that but the Scotland left-back said Szoboszlai’s performances this season, including the first goal in Liverpool’s 4-1 win on Monday, should spare him too much criticism.
He explained: “The frustrating thing is Dom does this unbelievable 60-yard sprint to start with. He’s getting the clap off the Kop and I don’t know if that maybe went to his head. We can joke about it now but it’s unacceptable to lose a goal like that. Dom obviously knows that.
“He’s been magnificent for us this season and he was again really good. He just had a lapse of concentration, and we can’t afford too many of them in the six-yard box.
“I don’t think Gio [Mamardashvili] was too happy. He wants to keep a clean sheet, the defence wants to keep a clean sheet as well, so it wasn’t great. It gave them a way back in and it was 2-1 for a long time. It made it a bit nervy but we got there in the end.”
Robertson said the Liverpool team had a few choice words with Szoboszlai, adding: “I think we all said something at the time, but he realised and apologised at half-time.
“If anyone’s performances can’t get criticised this season, it’s Dom’s. He’s been 100 per cent every game this season and has this lapse of concentration which isn’t great. We can’t really afford that in the so-called bigger games.”
