Liverpool took the lead thanks to Dominik Szoboszlai‘s great free-kick goal, but they lost 2-1 to the visiting Manchester City on Sunday in the 25th round of the English football championship, in which the Hungarian player received a red card at the end for pulling down Erling Haaland. Manchester’s Norwegian striker spoke to Sky Sport about the incident after the match.
At the end of extra time, with Manchester leading 2-1, Alisson, the Liverpool goalkeeper, went forward, but City still had one more attack. Haaland could drive the ball into the empty net, but Szoboszlai pulled him back. Although the ball rolled into the goal, after the VAR check, the referee invalidated the goal and sent Szoboszlai off.
Despite Szoboszlai’s sumptuous free kick goal, Liverpool lost to City – video
“Of course, the referee has to follow the rules, but this means a ban for Szoboszlai. I feel sorry for him, because he will be banned for three matches. It would have been better if they had just given the goal, they shouldn’t have given a red card, but that’s the rule.” – SportBible quoted Erling Haaland’s statement to Sky Sports.
The City striker is therefore his friend (the Norwegian and Szoboszlai still played together at Red Bull Salzburg) talked about his multi-match ban, but the Poolbarátok Facebook page highlighted that an irregularity preventing a goal-scoring opportunity automatically results in a one-match ban in the Premier League, so the Hungarian national team midfielder will probably only miss the league game against Sunderland, not three matches.
By the way, Haaland also touched on what he and Szoboszlai talked about before the 11 in the post-match interview:
“I don’t remember exactly what he said. All I know is that I told him, this is the first time I don’t want to talk to you, so get out of here.” he added with a laugh.
Premier League, Round 25:
Liverpool FC-Manchester City 1–2 (Szoboszlai 74th, or B. Silva 84th, Haaland 93rd – from the penalty spot; awarded: Szoboszlai 103rd)
A table:
1. Arsenal 25 49-17 56 points
2. Manchester City 25 51-24 50
3. Aston Villa 25 36-27 47
4. Manchester United 25 46-36 44
5. Chelsea 25 45-28 43
6. Liverpool 25 40-35 39
7. Brentford 25 39-34 39
8. Everton 25 28-28 37
9. Sunderland 25 27-29 36
10. Fulham 25 35-37 34
11. Bournemouth 25 41-44 34
12. Newcastle United 25 35-36 33
13. Crystal Palace 25 26-29 32
14. Brighton 25 34-33 31
15. Tottenham Hotspur 25 35-35 29
16. Leeds United 25 34-43 29
17. Nottingham Forest 25 25-38 26
18. West Ham United 25 31-48 23
19. Burnley 25 25-49 15
20. Wolverhampton Wanderers 25 16-48 8
Cover image:
Liverpool, February 8, 2026. Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai (b) fouls Manchester City’s Erling Haaland (j) during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Manchester City in Liverpool on February 8, 2026. MTI/EPA/Adam Vaughan
