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Liverpool come from behind to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux

sportsmole.co.uk, 16 September 2023, 13:31
Liverpool have moved to the top of the Premier League table after coming from behind to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-1 at Molineux.

Wolves dominated for large periods during the first half and took an early lead thanks to Hee-chan Hwang's goal.

The hosts squandered more than one good opportunity though and Liverpool punished them as they came back into the contest in the second half.

Cody Gakpo's equaliser brought Jurgen Klopp's men back into the game, before Andy Robertson popped up with a crucial goal five minutes from time.

Hugo Bueno's own goal in injury time sealed the three points for Liverpool as Klopp's men move above Manchester City to the Premier League summit for the first time in 16 months.

Wolves remain down in 15th after a fourth loss from five games, and they could slip further before the end of the weekend.

Gary O'Neil handed a Wolves debut to deadline day signing Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and he instantly looked lively, driving at the heart of the Liverpool defence in the opening minute.

That would be a precursor to how much of the first 45 minutes went, as Liverpool struggled to get to grips with Wolves' direct attacking play.

It was all Wolves in the opening exchanges, and the hosts took advantage by going ahead inside seven minutes thanks to Hwang's acute-angle finish.

Excellent play down the left-wing by Pedro Neto saw him breeze past Joe Gomez, Joel Matip and Dominik Szoboszlai before his square ball found an unmarked Hwang, whose effort crept through the legs of Alisson in the Liverpool goal.

Neto was involved again just moments later when Gomez completely missed Nelson Semedo's cross, but the Portuguese winger made the wrong contact and blazed over.

Former Wolves man Diogo Jota got a rather unwelcome reception from the Molineux crowd, and they were delighted when their former hero sent a volley a long way over Jose Sa's crossbar in Liverpool's first attempt on goal after 13 minutes.

Wolves maintained their control of the match though, and Craig Dawson, who has a fine scoring record against Liverpool, squandered an excellent chance from a corner, taking his eye off the ball and mistiming his header after finding space in the box.

Then with 10 minutes remaining of the first half, Wolves wasted arguably their best chance of the game, when more Neto magic up against Gomez saw him beat the stand-in right-back with ease before providing a brilliant cross for Matheus Cunha, who tried a header but saw the ball awkwardly bounce off his thigh as the chance got away.

Klopp cut a frustrated and irate figure at times on the touchline, but Liverpool came into the game a little more towards the end of the first half, with Gakpo missing the target with two half chances.

Robertson was the provider for one of those opportunities, and it was from another of his crosses where Liverpool almost found their equaliser.

In first half stoppage time, the left-back's dangerous delivery was flapped by Sa, before Rayan Ait-Nouri blocked Mohamed Salah's initial effort, with the goalkeeper getting back to his feet to deny Szoboszlai on the rebound.

A hectic first half was rounded off with more frustration for Cunha, after his promising run opened up plenty of space, but his effort sailed high over the bar when he had options either side of him.

Liverpool looked much improved in the second half, and their equaliser did come 10 minutes after the restart, with Gakpo levelling for the visitors.

After Salah found space on the right, his shot-cum-cross evaded three Wolves defenders and Gakpo was on hand for a tap-in, a touch that would go on to be his final involvement as he was taken off straight after.

Gakpo was replaced by Darwin Nunez, who came into the game carrying a knock picked up away with Uruguay during the international break.

Nunez was lively as ever, and his link-up with fellow substitute Luis Diaz almost turned the game on its head, but Sa came out and made himself big to deny the Liverpool number nine one-on-one.

In the final few minutes Liverpool looked the most likely to find a winner, and eventually it came, from the most unlikely of sources.

After Sa made a mess of his kick out, Liverpool regained possession midway through the Wolves half, as Robertson glided through the Wolves defence and got on the end of a Salah pass before sliding the ball underneath the Wolves keeper.

Wolves looked crestfallen after letting the lead slip, and there would be further damage inflicted, as Harvey Elliott's strike deflected just inside the post off left-back Bueno in stoppage time.

Despite a very long period of injury time, Liverpool managed the game well and saw out a well-fought 3-1 victory on the road.

Wolves travel to newly-promoted Luton Town next weekend, while Liverpool have a trip to Linz first before returning to league action, facing LASK in the Europa League on Thursday.

The Reds will then face fellow Europa League contestants West Ham United at Anfield in the league next Sunday.

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