Slot hails Szoboszlai ‘moment of magic’ as Liverpool edge Arsenal | OneFootball

Liverpool boss Arne Slot admitted it took something special to separate two evenly matched title contenders after Dominik Szoboszlai’s strike sealed a 1-0 victory over Arsenal at Anfield.

The Hungarian midfielder produced the game’s decisive moment midway through the second half, and Slot said it was always likely that a flash of brilliance would be the difference.

“A moment of magic which was needed to win this game for either side,” the Dutchman said. “Uneventful game, two teams quite equal to each other. To me, it felt we had the upper hand in the second half.”

At the final whistle Slot appeared to exhale in front of the Kop, something he later explained owed as much to the crowd as to the contest.

“It had more to do with what they sang at that moment which was a song for Diogo and that just every time gets you,” he smiled. “That was why I did what I did but indeed it was a ‘phew’ game. For a manager it was not too bad but it was uneventful.”

If the goal was eye-catching, Slot was just as pleased with his side’s resilience at the other end, especially against Arsenal’s set-piece threat.

“They had more than us [corners], nine I think in total. We defended them really well,” he said. “I don’t think it was much as we had to defend on Monday night where we hardly only had to defend the set piece. If you play against Arsenal and concede nine set pieces and win with a set piece I would say ‘phew’.”

Asked about potential late moves in the transfer window, Slot insisted Liverpool were already well stocked after a summer of reshaping.

“I always add to that ‘for the right money and the right player’ but I don’t know if that’s happening at the moment,” he said. “I’m just getting my emotions right after winning the game. I will hear probably tonight if anything will happen. If you look at Joe Gomez and Curtis Jones coming in today, it tells you that we already have a strong squad.”