Liverpool head coach Arne Slot paid tribute to his team’s “great mentality” after Dominik Szoboszlai’s superb free-kick sealed a 1-0 win over title rivals Arsenal on Sunday.
A cagey game looked to be heading for a goalless draw until Hungary captain Szoboszlai fired an unstoppable 30-yard set piece in off the post at the Kop end to maintain the defending champions’ 100 per cent start to the season heading into the international break.
With Jeremie Frimpong still injured and Conor Bradley not fit enough to complete 90 minutes, Szoboszlai again started in an unfamiliar right-back role, but his superb display would have won him the man-of-the-match award even without his brilliant intervention with seven minutes remaining.
Reds worked ‘incredibly hard’
Reflecting on the victory, Slot told reporters: “We’re not perfect. But what you can see is a great mentality, and everybody wants to work so hard to get a result over the line.
“Then you need a little bit of luck, which we had in Newcastle and today.
“They work incredibly hard, and there will be moments in the season where we work just as hard and we don’t find the luck of scoring a goal.”
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An ‘unbelievable game’ from Szoboszlai
The Dutchman was also quick to heap praise on Liverpool’s matchwinner, Szoboszlai, although he was not surprised to see the makeshift right-back turn in such an impressive performance.
Slot added: “I don’t think he changed at all in the last few games compared to what he did last season.
“If you wear this shirt, you should give everything, no matter in what position you play.
“Unbelievable game from him in the position he probably played only two or three times in his life, so it tells you a lot about the mentality he has.”
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Arsenal’s Anfield drought continues
Arsenal are still without a win at Anfield in more than a decade, but manager Mikel Arteta – who featured in that 2-1 win for the Gunners in March 2012 – denied he had set up his team to avoid defeat, rather than seek a victory.
He said: “We didn’t do our game plan to frustrate them – we did it to win it.
“I think we elevated the game and the dominance to a point that they have to raise it.
“They did, especially from 60-78 minutes, when then you could see that there were no margins in the game, and then when that happens the game is going to be decided in two ways.
“One, with an individual error and two, with a magic moment.
“So, they created a moment that was incredible, that has won the game, and that was the difference. Nothing else.”
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Shameeka Voyiya 
Newsjustnews writers 
Ren Azrack Escosio