However, the Reds managed to hit the front just after the middle of the first half when Hugo Ekitike finished past Geronimo Rulli, but the Frenchman was narrowly offside and the goal was correctly disallowed.
Just before half-time, Arne Slot’s team really took the lead when the Hungarian midfielder curled a free kick under the defensive wall of the home team, which had jumped and had no player available to fulfill the role of draft stopper.
Adam applauds ‘very smart’ free-kick from Szoboszlai
On expert duty for BBC Radio 5 Sport ExtraAdam praised Szoboszlai for having the presence of mind to anticipate what Marseille would do and exploit it to Liverpool’s advantage.
The former Reds midfielder said: “Liverpool deserve this. They were excellent, but real quality from Szoboszlai. The wall jumps and he goes under. Really smart of Szoboszlai to even think about it.”
Szoboszlai is somehow atoning for recent mistakes!
The Hungarian has previously scored directly from free kicks, as Arsenal discovered to their detriment at Anfield in August. He showed quick thinking by putting his shot under Marseille’s defensive wall rather than trying to get it over the opposition players and knock it down in time for it to be on target.
It would also have been a relief for Szoboszlai, who was criticized for the mistake that gave Barnsley a goal last week and also suffered a costly penalty miss in the 1-1 draw with Burnley on Saturday.
The 25-year-old admitted it had been a ‘tough’ few days for him after those incidents, but he put that behind him to come up trumps for Liverpool when he got the chance just before half-time.
Dominik Szoboszlai opens the scoring for Liverpool with a beautifully executed free kick 🎯@tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/m2whpwaWJX
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 21, 2026
Our number 8 was praised by the Liverpool echoPaul Gorst for his overall first-half performance in Marseille, with the journalist writing that the midfielder “set the tone with some of his pressing” and was “a huge asset” for the Reds, also labeling the free-kick as “brutal”.
Szoboszlai added another moment to his catalog of brilliance in a red shirt, and if that proves to be the decisive goal tonight, his already impeccable standing among the Kopites will increase even further.
You can view images of Liverpool before Marseille
#Quality #Charlie #Adam #salutes #Liverpool #maestro #smart #moment #Marseille