No Mo worries as Reds snatch vital win

Even from the penalty spot, Liverpool managed just fine without Mohamed Salah.

With regular penalty taker Salah out of the squad following his public criticism of the club last week, Dominik Szoboszlai stepped up instead to score the 88th-minute penalty which earned a 1-0 win over one of the Champions League's best-performing teams, while Chelsea slipped to defeat against Atalanta and Barcelona overcame Eintracht Frankfurt.

It was all the more valuable for coming after a run of one win in six games in all competitions for Arne Slot's under-pressure team, which moved up to eighth and is now back in contention for a direct spot in the round of 16. Inter dropped to fifth.

Liverpool snapped Inter's 18-game unbeaten home run in Europe, despite the absence of Salah, who was left out of the squad after his extraordinary public criticism of manager Slot.

Liverpool fans loudly chanted Slot's name at the end of a largely drab match that was decided by referee Felix Zwayer's decision to give the English champion a perfect chance to snatch the points, which Szoboszlai duly took.

"The penalty did look soft, but that's given anywhere else on the pitch," Andy Robertson told Amazon Prime.

"We all needed it. We know the results and performances aren't good enough. It's important this club is in the Champions League. It was a huge result for all of us."

Inter's players were enraged at the awarding of the penalty — given for a light shirt tug by Alessandro Bastoni on Florian Wirtz — but it gave Slot a happy end to a troubled few days.

The closest either team came to scoring before then was when Ibrahima Konate had his closerange header in the 37th minute ruled out for a Hugo Ekitike handball following a lengthy VAR check.

"We are disappointed, angry — a bit of everything," Inter midfielder Piotr Zielinski told Italy's Sky Sport.

"It was a good performance, we lacked a little something in the final third to put it into the net, but the refereeing decisions ... If they give penalties for this, then everything will be a penalty."

Tuesday's win puts Liverpool on 12 points from six games and inside the top eight positions, which offer direct qualification for the last 16, ahead of Wednesday's fixtures.

Inter, meanwhile, is fifth on the same tally, but has now lost its last two European fixtures and created nearly nothing against an injury-hit Liverpool who was missing not just rebel star Salah, but also unfit Cody Gakpo, Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo.

'Difficult situation'

Last season, 16 points was enough to skip the playoffs and Cristian Chivu's team is by no means guaranteed that, as it hosts Arsenal before traveling to Borussia Dortmund in its final two league phase fixtures.

Another defeat in a big game means dropping out of the top eight is a real prospect.

Liverpool's trip to Milan has been dominated by Salah's stunning outburst, triggering speculation that the Egyptian had played his final game for the Reds.

Salah sparked a firestorm when he said he felt like he had been "thrown under the bus" by the club, and no longer had a relationship with Slot after being left on the bench for Saturday's 3-3 draw at Leeds, the third match in a row in which he was relegated to the role of substitute.

His tirade led to Saudi Arabian sources saying on Tuesday they wanted to recruit the 33-year-old in January, even though he signed a new contract in April.

"It's difficult, but it's a collectively difficult situation that we're all in," said Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk.

"Between Mo and the club, things are going on and he's not here today, that's the reality. I don't think anything has changed in terms of our focus and determination."

Defender Robertson said he hoped the Egyptian's time at the club was not over.

"That'll be up to other people. It's not up to me, but I love playing with Mo Salah, and I hope to continue to play with him," the 31-year-old said.

Crowned Premier League champion under Slot last season, with Salah contributing 34 goals and 18 assists in 52 games across all competitions, Liverpool has struggled to find its best form so far this term, but Tuesday's win might give the team some breathing room.

"We know we're not in the best moment, we know the results haven't been good enough, we know the performances haven't been good enough. So, it's important that this club is in the Champions League, and then, when you are, you have to compete in it," Robertson said.

"The supporters expect us to go far in it, so we need to up our performances to get through (to the next phase) and then to hopefully build momentum, so it was a huge result for all of us."

Liverpool had won just four times in 15 matches in all competitions coming into Tuesday's match, but Inter failed to pile any early pressure on its opponent.

Inter didn't have its first shot of any description until the 37th minute while Liverpool, who was nowhere near its best, had good attempts from Curtis Jones and Ryan Gravenberch, before Konate's header was ruled out.

That woke up both Inter and a strangely flat home crowd of nearly 74,000, and Lautaro Martinez ended up wasting the best chance of the first half when he headed Bastoni's cross too close to Alisson Becker.

But the second half was a total flop, and, as the minutes passed, it became clear that a stalemate was fine for both teams until Szoboszlai rifled home the controversial winning penalty.

Agencies