Erling Haaland sends message to Dominik Szoboszlai after blunt Liverpool criticism

Erling Haaland and Dominik Szoboszlai are friends from their time playing alongside each other in Austria, and the former Manchester City striker reacted to Szoboszlai's goal against Barnsley

Dominik Szoboszlai after scoring for Liverpool against Barnsley(Image: 2026 Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA)

Erling Haaland was clearly impressed with Dominik Szoboszlai's stunning opener against Barnsley on Monday – but joked that the Liverpool midfielder should've been a bit happier with himself after lashing the ball into the top corner from distance.

Szoboszlai opened the scoring in sumptuous fashion in the ninth minute but did not crack a smile as the ball hit the back of the net, and looked to be in a heated discussion with Alexis Mac Allister as both teams prepared for the restart.

Manchester City striker Haaland responded to Szoboszlai's goal – as well as his non-celebration – on social media, writing: "Domi, what a goal. Smile a bit."

Szoboszlai eventually did celebrate, as he mimicked a famous Mohamed Salah celebration, standing on one leg and putting his hands together.

Haaland and Szoboszlai remain friends from their time at RB Salzburg together, despite Haaland only playing for the Austrian club for one year.

In 2021, Szoboszlai recalled how he made a special effort to help Haaland bed in at Salzburg.

"When I joined Salzburg, [Munas] Dabbur helped me the most with the step up into the professional game," Szoboszlai said. "I knew how tough it is to settle into the team, even though they are all friendly and try to help.

"They already know each other, so it can be hard to integrate. When Erling joined he was the only new player and everybody else knew each other.

"I thought to myself that I had been in the same situation, so I was very open to him and helped him with whatever he needed.

"We went out together – even though he doesn't do that much – and we also went for food and so on. We became good friends and I helped him get to know the team while he helped me with my English, so we both helped each other."

After joining Liverpool in 2023, Szoboszlai again spoke of his friendship with Haaland, as he lifted the lid on an exchange the pair had as he prepared to make the switch to England.

"We got really close because we were both young," Szoboszlai said. "Great player. Great guy."

He added: "When I came to sign it was not official yet, and I sent him a picture with a Liverpool shirt, and he was like 'what's happening?' and I said 'yeah, we're going to see each other.' And he said 'congratulations, the Premier League is crazy!'"