Soccer Football - UEFA Champions League - Inter Milan v Liverpool - San Siro, Milan, Italy - December 9, 2025 Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai celebrates scoring their first goal with Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister REUTERS/Claudia Greco
MILAN, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Liverpool shrugged off the absence of Mohamed Salah as midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai scored an 88th-minute penalty to give them a 1-0 Champions League win at Inter Milan on Tuesday that boosts their hopes of a top-eight finish.
With the shadow of absent winger Salah's recent falling-out with head coach Arne Slot still hanging over them, Liverpoolneeded a positive result, but Inter made it hard for them until a late loss of concentration cost them dearly.
With the game heading for a draw, Alessandro Bastoni tugged on Florian Wirtz's shirt and the German's theatrical tumble in the box alerted the VAR, who told the referee to take a second look.
Szoboszlai stepped up and slammed the ball past keeper Yann Sommer to lift his side to eighth place in the table on 12 points after six of their eight group games. With the top eight qualifying directly for the last 16, Inter are in fifth place, also on 12 points but with a superior goal difference.
Curtis Jones got the visitors off to a promising start when he tested Inter keeper Sommer with an early shot, but the Merseysiders quickly got bogged down as Inter's disciplined defending offered them few opportunities.
Liverpool thought they had taken the lead through a close-range header from Ibrahima Konate just after the half-hour mark, but a lengthy VAR review saw the goal chalked off for a Hugo Ekitike handball moments before.
Inter headed into the break having already made two substitutions as bothHakan Calhanoglu and Francesco Acerbi were forced off due to injury, but they more than held their own in the second half before coming unstuck late on.
IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Conor Bradley and Wirtz replaced Joe Gomez and Alexander Isak in the 68th minute, and the two had an immediate impact, with Bradley going close with a shot from a tight angle and Wirtz playing his part in winning the penalty.
There appeared to be little danger as defender Bastoni cleared a chip towards Wirtz, but he had grabbed a handful of the Liverpool substitute's shirt and pulled him back, and after another VAR review the referee pointed to the spot to give them the chance they desperately needed.
"Huge result. We knew we were coming to a tough place, to a team that's in a good moment. We had to show fight and dig in. The clean sheet was crucial and then we go and scored the goal," Liverpool defender Andy Robertson said.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk said they had handled the game well. "It could have been a 0-0 game in the end," he added. "But it ended positively for us."
There was disappointment for Inter, who started with four straight wins but have now lost two in a row.
"It's tough to lose this game, the positive side is if we play like this we win most games," defender Manuel Akanji said.
(Reporting by Philip O'ConnorEditing by Toby Davis)
