Szoboszlai the hero and villain as Liverpool overcome Barnsley in engrossing FA Cup match

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Dominik Szoboszlai was hero and villain for Liverpool as the home side broke down a spirited Barnsley 4-1 on Monday to set up a FA Cup fourth round tie against Premier League rival Brighton.

The Hungarian midfielder gave Liverpool the lead after eight minutes when he silenced the travelling fans with a stunning 30-meter strike.

Jeremie Frimpong made it 2-0 when he cut in from the right and fired home a fierce left-foot shot.

But Szoboszlai offered Barnsley a way back into the game five minutes before halftime with a calamitous mistake that will feature in blooper reels for years to come.

His attempted backheel six meters in front of his own goal was poorly planned and shockingly executed and the chasing Adam Phillips only had to tap the ball into the empty net to make it 2-1.

“Sorry to the team,” Szoboszlai told broadcaster TNT Sports. “I made it hard for us with an easy mistake. Football happens and we move on.”

The midfielder was also lucky not to give away a penalty early in the second half as Barnsley made a mockery of its League 1 status.

The Yorkshire club took the game to its more storied rival and with the match still in the balance Liverpool coach Arne Slot was forced to call on his big guns, bringing on Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké and Ibrahima Konate after an hour.

However, much of the action continued to revolve around Szoboszlai.

He cleared a Phillips shot off the line at one end and then set up Wirtz moments later only to see him blaze the ball over the bar.

Wirtz made amends six minutes from time when, with the visitor's energy levels dropping, he took an Ekitiké pass and curled a lovely shot into the far corner.

Ekitiké made it 4-1 in stoppage time when he tapped home a Wirtz cross.

It was an unfortunate end for a visiting team that acquitted itself admirably against a team 57 places above it in the league pyramid.

“I thought we were outstanding,” Barnsley manager Conor Hourihane said. “We got a bit tired at the end but we started so well. They brought on top player after top player.

“I wanted the lads to put in a performance that they could come away from and be immensely proud of and they can certainly do that."

Although the scoreline flattered the home side the result was Liverpool's 11th straight game without defeat and a sign of its ability to grind out results. Liverpool has not lost since November to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

Brighton will come to Anfield on the weekend of Feb. 14.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Barnsley's Corey O'Keeffe, left, and -mu73- fight for the ball during the FA Cup third round soccer match between Liverpool and Barnsley in Liverpool, England, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Barnsley's Vimal Yoganathan guards Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai during the FA Cup third round soccer match between Liverpool and Barnsley in Liverpool, England, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Liverpool's Jeremie Frimpong celebrates after scoring during the FA Cup third round soccer match between Liverpool and Barnsley in Liverpool, England, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Barnsley's Adam Phillips celebrates after scoring during the FA Cup third round soccer match between Liverpool and Barnsley in Liverpool, England, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai reacts after scoring during the FA Cup third round soccer match between Liverpool and Barnsley in Liverpool, England, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Central bankers from around the world said Tuesday they “stand in full solidarity” with U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, after President Donald Trump dramatically escalated his confrontation with the Fed with the Justice Department investigating and threatening criminal charges.

Powell “has served with integrity, focused on his mandate and an unwavering commitment to the public interest," read the statement signed by nine national central bank heads including European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey.

They added that “the independence of central banks is a cornerstone of price, financial and economic stability in the interest of the citizens that we serve. It is therefore critical to preserve that independence, with full respect for the rule of law and democratic accountability."

The dispute is ostensibly about Powell’s testimony to Congress in June over the cost of a massive renovation of Fed buildings. But in a statement Sunday, Powell, abandoning his previous attempt to ignore Trump’s relentless criticism, called the administration’s threat of criminal charges “pretexts’’ in the president’s campaign to seize control of U.S. interest rate policy from the Fed’s technocrats.

Trump has repeatedly criticized Powell and the Fed for not moving faster to cut rates. Economists warn that a politicized Fed that caves in to the president’s demands will damage its credibility as an inflation fighter and likely lead investors to demand higher rates before investing in U.S. Treasurys.

Other signers of the statement carried on the ECB's website were Erik Thedeen, governor of Sweden's central bank; Christian Kettel Thomsen, chair of Denmark's central bank; Swiss National Bank Chair Martin Schlegel; Michele Bullock, governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia; Tiff Macklem, governor of the Bank of Canada; Bank of Korea Governor Chang Yong Rhee; Gabriel Galipolo, governor of the Banco Central do Brasil.

Also attaching their names were François Villeroy de Galhau, board chair of the Bank for International Settlements, and Pablo Hernández de Cos, BIS general manager. The BIS is an international organization of central banks based in Basel, Switzerland.

One prominent central bank not included in the statement was the Bank of Japan. The statement said that more signatures could be added later.

A video of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell plays on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)