Liverpool tame Wolverhampton Wanderers with a 2-1 victory at Anfield in EPL
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Liverpool's Luis Diaz scores against Wolverhampton Wanderers in their Premier League clash.
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LONDON – Liverpool manager Arne Slot was allowed to be in his dugout at Anfield on Feb 16, as his team “dug deep” to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 in their English Premier League clash.
The Dutchman has been charged with being abusive to match officials in last week’s stormy Merseyside derby at Everton.
He was incensed as the match ended 2-2 after the Toffees scored a controversial late equaliser in the final derby at Goodison Park.
Slot has until Feb 19 to respond to the Football Association’s charge, which meant that he was available to manage the Reds in their game against Wolves.
The result meant that the league leaders are now on 60 points, seven ahead of second-placed Arsenal, who beat Leicester City 2-0 a day earlier.
“We managed to dig deep, 2-0 at half-time, you know that can be the most dangerous result in football and come out and start well and we didn’t quite do that,” said Reds fullback Andy Robertson.
“The second half was a slog maybe, playing Wednesdays took it out of a few of the lads, it was about using your experience that we have got on the pitch, and I thought we dug deep.”
Liverpool started the game strongly and their first chance came in the eighth minute, when Diogo Jota collected the ball from inside the box but his sliced shot flew just wide.
That was a sign of things to come and a warning to Wolves, as the hosts then broke the deadlock in the 15th minute.
It was an unusual goal scored by Luis Diaz, with the forward displaying good awareness in the six-yard box before using his body to knock the ball past goalkeeper Jose Sa.
The Reds kept up the intensity in front of their home fans and Dominik Szoboszlai had a chance to make it 2-0 in the 27th minute, but the Hungarian’s decent effort from outside the box went narrowly wide of the left post.
Jota was a constant bright spark for Liverpool and his low shot five minutes later was saved by Sa from close range, much to his frustration.
Diaz was equally threatening down the flank and he was rewarded eight minutes before half-time, when he found himself in a one-on-one situation and was hacked down by the Wolves goalkeeper in the area.
Mohamed Salah, Liverpool’s first-choice penalty taker, duly converted the spot kick to make it 2-0.
According to Opta statistics, that was his 101st Premier League goal at Anfield, level with Wayne Rooney at Old Trafford. Only Thierry Henry (114 at Highbury) and Sergio Aguero (106 at the Etihad) have more goals at a single venue in the league’s history.
Shortly after, Wolves had their first chance but Matheus Cunha’s brilliant free kick bent over the wall but went just wide.
It was 2-0 at the break, with Liverpool having scored at least two goals in their last 17 games in all competitions at Anfield – a first in the club’s history.
Wolves were a slightly changed team after the interval, as they came out with an intention to have a crack at Liverpool.
A pass into the box in the 50th minute found Marshall Munetsi unmarked. He hit his shot towards the bottom corner but it was brilliantly saved by Alisson Becker.
Liverpool saw the danger, and Salah nearly made it 3-0 almost immediately after to ease the team’s nerves but his goal was ruled out for offside.
The Reds thought they had another penalty in the 58th minute, but the video assistant referee revealed that there was no contact on Jota as the Portuguese went down in the box.
Wolves gradually lost steam in terms of their physicality and it was evident when Joao Gomes was presented with a clear scoring opportunity in the 63rd minute, but he hit the ball high over the bar with a lacklustre effort.
The visitors did not give up, however, and Cunha pulled one back with a great effort from the edge of the box and against the run of play four minutes later.
At 2-1, there was a nervous atmosphere at Anfield as Liverpool tried to calm things down and control possession.
The chances in the second half did not come as they did in the first, and Slot was relieved that the score remained the same as the Reds collected all three points to increase the gap at the top.
