Full time was approaching at Anfield and it was clear something special was needed to separate Liverpool and Arsenal as they slugged out an early-season heavyweight contest in the Premier League on Sunday. Enter Dominik Szoboszlai. With a long-range free kick that flew in off the post in the 83rd minute, Szoboszlai earned Liverpool a hard-fought 1-0 win over the opponent likely to be the biggest challenger to its title. “The game needed a moment of magic for either team to win it,” Liverpool manager Arne Slot said, “and it was Dominik who did so.” Many thought Manchester City would be back in the title race this season, but perhaps not. Collapsing to a 2-1 loss at Brighton, for a second straight loss, was another sign that Pep Guardiola’s once-dominant team has lost its aura. “This is the reality — we are not at the level from a long time (ago),” City midfielder Rodri said. Trent who? Szoboszlai is popular among Liverpool fans for his work ethic and versatility, and the Hungary midfielder was filling in at right back — for so long the position of the now-departed Trent Alexander-Arnold — because of injuries to Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong. Szoboszlai did his best impression of Alexander-Arnold with a top-quality dead-ball strike that was out of keeping with the rest of the game. “Until now Trent was taking them,” Szoboszlai said of his former teammate who now plays for Real Madrid. “Now I could finally take one.” It secured a third straight win for Liverpool, with the defending champions the only team on a maximum nine points after three rounds of the Premier League.
