Inter 0-1 Liverpool: Late Szoboszlai penalty eases Slot´s troubles

Dominik Szoboszlai’s 88th-minute penalty got Liverpool back to winning ways as they edged Inter 1-0 in the Champions League.

Liverpool were without Mohamed Salah, following his explosive post-match interview after their 3-3 draw against Leeds United, but the Reds ground out a victory at San Siro.

Inter struggled at the start and were not helped by losing both Hakan Calhanoglu and Francesco Acerbi to injury, either side of Yann Sommer making a double save to keep out Curtis Jones and Ryan Gravenberch.

Liverpool then thought they had taken the lead 32 minutes in when Ibrahima Konate headed home from close range. However, it was ruled out after a lengthy VAR check as Virgil van Dijk had nodded the ball onto Hugo Ekitike’s arm in the build-up.

The hosts stepped up the pressure after that, with Nicolo Barella curling a free-kick narrowly wide before Piotr Zielinski and Lautaro Martinez both tested a stretching Alisson in stoppage time.

There was little to split the sides at the start of the second half, with Ekitike’s long-range drive comfortably held by Sommer shortly after the hour.

Arne Slot’s side had a slight edge, though, keeping Inter under pressure as substitute Conor Bradley forced Sommer into a sprawling near-post save.

But the decisive moment came late on as Alessandro Bastoni needlessly dragged Florian Wirtz’s shirt, and Szoboszlai rifled his spot-kick into the left side of the net to send Liverpool eighth.

Victory at San Siro pic.twitter.com/B3w4AgfcgZ

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 9, 2025

Data Debrief: Fortress San Siro breached

Inter were unbeaten in 18 Champions League matches at home before this, and looked set to hold out for a point. Instead, they suffered a second straight loss in the competition and lost ground on the top of the table by slipping down to fifth.

For a long time it was evenly matched, but Liverpool finished with 1.47 expected goals (xG) from their 12 shots to Inter’s 0.43 xG from nine, 0.79 of that came from the penalty.

The win was thanks to Szoboszlai taking his moment. He has been directly involved in more goals than any other Liverpool player this season (10 – five goals, five assists).

Szoboszlai also created a joint-team-high of two chances, played the most passes in the final third (18) and provided four crosses, more than any of his team-mates.