Liverpool 4-1 Barnsley: Reds extend unbeaten run to 11 games

From the depths of their early winter despair, Liverpool have somehow pieced together an unbeaten run of eleven games. But the truth is they continue to look a most unconvincing football team and if greater difficulties are not around the corner, it will be a surprise.

For now at least, they will continue in a competition that will only offer their season a lifeline if they manage to play rather better than they did here.

This was not a particularly recognisable Liverpool team as manager Arne Slot made a raft of changes. But nor was it callow and severely under resourced. Liverpool needed two late goals to put a shine on this evening and as such were very familiar indeed.

That they won was down to two long range goals of ferocious power in the first half – one from Dominik Szoboszlai and the other from Jeremie Frimpong – and also to some isolated pieces of fortune that preceded their late rally.

Barnsley forward and captain Davis Keillor-Dunn headed against the post after just 29 seconds, for example. He should have scored.

Then, after a horrible mistake from Szoboszlai gifted Adam Phillips a goal from two yards just before half-time, Liverpool survived a very credible penalty appeal on the hour as Reyes Clearly fell under a Szoboszlai tug of the shoulder.

With the score at 2-1, that transpired to be the key moment of the game. As Liverpool sent on the artillery later in the evening, their weight of pressure told in the shape of a beautiful Florian Wirtz goal with six minutes remaining. The assist came from another substitute, Hugo Ekitike, and with seconds remaining the favour was returned.

The fact both players had been summoned from the bench earlier in the piece told its own story. Frankly, Liverpool had needed them against a team from the depths of League One.

The FA Cup has a fresh feel to it this winter and that's largely because of the shot in the arm given it by Macclesfield and Wrexham over the weekend. Before kick-off here, Barnsley's players had wandered around this great stadium with a sense of wonder, telling TV interviewers that they just wanted to 'soak it all in'.

Professional footballers don't really think like that, though. These are not non-league postmen and window cleaners. They were here to compete and that manifested itself within 30 seconds.

Barnsley moved the ball smoothly down the right and when Phillips clipped in a cross when unmarked and in space, he landed it straight on his skipper's head six yards out. The contact from Keillor-Dunn was true and powerful but the satellite malfunctioned by six inches and the ball came back from the upright.

For a while Barnsley didn't take a step back. Soon after Cleary gave Virgil van Dijk – partnered here by Joe Gomez – a run for his money down the left and won. There were other moments of Yorkshire promise as Liverpool struggled to get going but then, out of nowhere, the home team scored.

Perhaps a little bored, Szoboszlai took possession thirty yards out, shifted the ball on to his right foot and smashed it past Barnsley goalkeeper Murphy Cooper with quite alarming power.

They would have heard the 'thwack' right across Stanley Park and when Frimpong did his best to match it – cutting inside Nathanael Ogbeta on the right and shooting high above Cooper from an angle in the 36th minute – it seemed as though Liverpool would stroll through the rest of the night.

They had not played well by any means. As is often the case at home, Slot's team had all the ball but looked at a loss as to what they should do with it. Too often Liverpool look like a group of players unsure how to put a jigsaw together and it can be painful to watch.

There should have been no alarm, though. Barnsley had been game on the break but limited. They tried to stretch Liverpool wide on occasion and carried a threat with it.

But it was Liverpool who inexplicably opened the door back into the game just before half-time when Szoboszlai made a mess of a back heel to his own goalkeeper and Phillips stole in to score.

Emboldened by fresh hope, purpose returned to Barnsley's football and after goalkeeper Cooper saved brilliantly by touching a Van Dijk header on to the bar in the 53rd minute, the game's moment of controversy arrived.

With Liverpool still vulnerable when stretched out of their shape, Szoboszlai seemed to have a hand on Cleary's shoulder when the Barnsley player fell in the penalty area. It looked like a foul but referee Farai Hallam disagreed and Barnsley manager Conor Hourihane was booked for his protests.

With fresh and experienced legs on the field for the final half hour there was some small improvement in Liverpool's attacking play. A Curtis Jones shot was deflected wide and Van Dijk was close with a header.

Then, with the goal at his mercy in the 77th minute, Wirtz poked a Szoboszlai cross over from six yards.

Into the final 15 minutes and Anfield was a stadium where anything seemed possible. Slot looked anxious on the touchline and with little wonder. But Wirtz settled his manager's nerves with a lovely curling shot following an Ekitike backheel. Then, with almost the last kick, Wirtz slid a ball across goal for Ekitike to tap in.

A 4-1 win that felt like something different altogether. Liverpool's strange season lurches on.