As the chaos erupted around the stands of Anfield on Sunday night, Dominik Szoboszlai ensured he was the coolest man in the stadium.
The Hungary international executed a perfect knee slide in front of the Kop after arrowing a pinpoint free-kick past David Raya to hand Liverpool a dramatic late lead in a nail-biting affair against Premier League title rivals Arsenal.
After finally escaping the mobbing of his team-mates, the midfielder stood tall, chest out – finally able to revel in the acclaim of the famous old terrace, as its followers saluted a new, unlikely hero.
For Szoboszlai, it was one of the few times he has been able to take centre stage at Anfield since joining the club from RB Leipzig in 2023.
The No. 8 shirt
The 24-year-old, now into his third season, arrived on Merseyside with some pretty lofty expectations as he was just the second Liverpool player to shoulder the weight of the No. 8 shirt since Steve Gerrard’s illustrious career at the club came to an end in May 2015.
It was, then, wholly fitting that this strike was Liverpool’s latest winning goal scored directly from a free-kick in the Premier League since Gerrard found the top corner against Aston Villa on the opening weekend of the 2008/2009 season.
At times, actually, the Hungarian’s full-throttle performance, mixed with technical excellence, was like a throwback to the mid-2000s when a prime Gerrard would often spend his weekends bailing out his below-par, misfiring Liverpool side.
And the fact that Szoboszlai now wears the No. 8 on a shirt manufactured by German sportswear giants Adidas, whose iconic three-striped kits are synonymous with the club’s history, only added to the feeling of nostalgia in and around the terraces.
Of course, he still has plenty to achieve if he is to one day be spoken about in the same breath as some Liverpool greats – let alone the 2005 Champions League hero, Gerrard.
But what his performance against Arsenal did was underline his status as an indispensable component of the present-day Liverpool, who, three weeks into the campaign, look well placed to make a strong defence of their Premier League crown between now and the end of May.
Similar to Gerrard, the early years of Szoboszlai’s Liverpool career have seen him deployed in a wide range of positions – five, to be exact – such is the extensive nature of both his physical and mental attributes.
An unlikely right-back solution
It was in the most unfamiliar of those roles, right-back, where he was officially deployed by Arne Slot – with summer signing Jeremie Frimpong nursing a hamstring injury and Conor Bradley also recently spending time on the sidelines.
But even after only playing as a right-back in the Premier League for the first time six days earlier, Szoboszlai made sure it was his fingerprints that were all over this at times uninspiring but ultimately vital Anfield triumph.
When up against the lively Gabriel Martinelli, he showed no signs of learning on the job as he was combative and robust throughout.
And by the time the whistle of referee Chris Kavanagh sounded out around Anfield for the final time, the former MTK Budapest youngster had won all bar one of his combined aerial and ground duels against the Premier League’s most physically imposing side.
On the offensive, meanwhile, there were plenty of opportunities for Szoboszlai to add to his Gerrard-esque showreel, particularly midway through the second half, when he sent Florian Wirtz away with a 60-yard cross-field diagonal pass.
Only time will tell how crucial that specific asset of Szoboszlai’s game could be, with Liverpool, of course, still trying to work out how to fill the creative void left by Trent Alexander-Arnold’s move to Real Madrid earlier this year.
But as the Premier League champions prepare to face the stubborn defences of Burnley, Atletico Madrid and Everton in the weeks ahead, the answer is likely to be fairly crucial as Frimpong and Wirtz, the two players signed to replace the England international, continue to acclimatise to the demands of English football.
The Work Behind Szoboszlai’s Highlight Reel
In the meantime, however, the abiding memory of this early season six-pointer between the two title favourites will undoubtedly belong to Szoboszlai and his sensational set-piece.
But as impressive as the strike was, it is everything else he did during a gruelling afternoon’s work that will vindicate Slot’s long-standing trust in the Hungarian.
It is why, despite a record-breaking summer of player trading, which raised plenty of questions about his future after the club-record signing of Wirtz, Szoboszlai will continue to be one of the first names on the team sheet at Anfield.
Where, exactly? Well, that’s anyone’s guess.
