Liverpool 2-1 Wolves: Premier League – as it happened

What-ho! Andy Hunter’s report is with us:

So that’s us done here. Join Rob Smyth for Spurs v Man United, =enjoy the rest of the weekend, and peace out.

An own-goal brace, oof madone. Jamie Carragher bagged one of them against Man United in September 99, but tangentially, how good was this?

Also going on:

“Next three games are massive,” reckons Bob Coyne. “If Liverpool play like they did in that second half against Villa, City and Newcastle, their lead could be down to one point.”

That feels unlikely but I agree with the gist: even if they drop points in one of those games, if Arsenal win their corresponding three, with a four or five-point gap, the race is on. Problem is, Mikel Arteta’s men don’t look like a side able to overturn so significant a gap, and I fear they don’t have the attacking depth to pinch tight games.

Andy Robertson says Wolves played well second half, leaving more men up front, but also thinks Liverpool have to be better on the ball and recorded a crucial win. He’ll be ecstatic to learn I agree on all counts.

“Re. Shearer,” begins Dave Estherby, “‘he was amazing at Blackburn before the first cruciate…’. Boxing Day 1992 that happened, four months into his Blackburn career.
He ended up with 260 goals, which is still the PL record. Think he was pretty amazing AFTER that injury my friend.”

Sure, he was. But after the second cruciate, he wasn’t close to the best around I don’t think, and as I said, when you’re ranking players all of whom are amazing, I’d take goals scored under pressure above those not. You might wanna say Shearer’s longevity counts for something and it does, but it doesn’t, in my opinion, make his best better than that of Henry, Van Nistelrooy, Rooney, Suarez and so on – and most of their goals, the first three especially, came in games competing for titles.

How they stand:

Wondering what to do with the rest of the afternoon?

We got ya’ll.

FULL TIME: Liverpool 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

90+6 min Wolves get it out right, Lima looking to get a cross in, but Endo makes a mouser’s challenge wins a free-kick, and Liverpool are nearly there.

90+5 min Mac Allister is down, stays there as long as he can, and Liverpool win a throw deep inside the Wolves half, taking as long over it as they can; the ref indicates he’s stopping the watch.

90+4 min There’s some serious tension in the ground now; the run-in is upon us.

90+3 min Dolye’s free-kick is into the wall and behind; the corner comes to nothing.

90+2 min Wolves send on Pedro Lima for the injured Semedo.

90+1 min Bellegarde picks up a second ball and finds Ait-Nouri, but Wolves are forced backwards. No matter: they find Airt-Nouri again, Alisson punches his cross away when he should catch, then Cunha perhaps fouls Endo, skids away, and when they come together a second time, the ref gives Wolves a free-kick on the edge of the box, right of centre. Cunha and Ait-Nouri are behind the ball, now Ait-Nouri and Doyle…

90 min We’ll have six additional minutes.

88 min And Wolves almost conjure an opportunity! Cunha carries – what a player he is –then punches out to Doyle, who crosses low and hard, but Quansah, sliding in, makes a fantastic interception to stop the ball reaching Munetsi. It didn’t look loads, but when the season is over, it might just stand as a crucial moment of it.

87 min If, somehow, Wolves can fashion an equaliser, they’ll be reanimating the title race; these next three minutes plus whatever’s left are the most important of the season so far.

86 min The Kop try and sing their team home; the sense now is that Wolves may get a sniff with a set-piece, but they don’t look likely to prise Liverpool apart.

85 min “Since we’re all being obliged to play this game,” says Richard Hirst, “may I say I think your dismissal of Dalglish was cavalier. In terms of footballing intelligence, the capacity to make goals as well as score them, he was head and shoulders above the others mentioned, especially Ronaldo.”

I only caught the end of Dalglish and I wasn’t meaning to dismiss him, but there are plenty who don’t think he was even the best Scottish player ever, never mind the best in the history of English football. I said he was a strange place to start but that wasn’t to disparage his quality, at all.

83 min Another change for Wolves, Doyle replacing Gomes. I’m a little surprised by who’s gone off – Gomes is more likely to create than Andre – but I guess Pereira wants some ballast to avoid conceding a third goal.

81 min I’d be amazed if Wolves go down. They’re far better than the three promoted clubs, have a reliable scorer, and their new manager has a clear plan that his players understand.

80 min Wolves win another free-kick, this time 35 yards out, just right of centre, but Cunha’s kick goes beyond the back post and Toti’s attempted flick actually allows Liverpool to counter … the attack halted by Semedo’s foul.

77 min Liverpool knock it about, taking heat out of the game – a few moments ago, we saw a graphic advising us that Wolves have taken the last 10 shots, but things have settled a little these last couple of minutes.

75 min “On Salah and the pantheon,” emails Jim Paterson, “I think he’s top five easy, maybe third max behind Henry and Shearer (Kane, Rooney and Ronaldo may disagree). I think your point earlier about him being the key player in this side is maybe why it’s easier to recognise his talent and why players like Keane maybe get a little less love in these rankings: they’re a key cog rather than the key player. Which is what made Henry so amazing: in an all-time great side, he was still clearly head and shoulders above everyone else.”

Yeah I’d not have Shearer anything like that high – he was amazing at Blackburn before the first cruciate and still brilliant after, but when I’m looking to split greats, I guess I value high-pressure games over numbers when playing with inferior talents.

74 min Cunha drives through midfield and looks to slide Munetsi through, but someone, I don’t see who, intercepts.

73 min A quiet period. Wolves need to get Gomes on the ball, because he has the eye and touch to find Cunha.

71 min Van Dijk misjudges the path of the ball, makes a challenge anyway, and is booked. Incidentally and if I remember correctly, Rio Ferdinand went two seasons at Leeds without getting cautioned, and did 50-0odd games around 09-09.

71 min Slot is concerned, replacing Diaz, an attacker, with Endo, a destroyer.

70 min Wolves are coming, Bellewgarde lifting a diagonal ball over the top that just defeats Cunha’s stretch.

68 min Just before the goal, Carragher noted that a better side than Wolves might’ve punished Liverpool’s carelessness in defence by now, and a game that looked and felt won is suddenly in the balance. No wonder Robertson is aghast at the concession of a corner, headed over the top by Gomes. There’s a different feeling around Anfield now.

WHAT A GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers (Cunha 67)

65 min Back to Bale, Nelson Calvinho has some thoughts: “Actually Madrid need the Mourinho asterisk. It was Mourinho who built the team that would go on to win several Champions League trophies (Varane, Coentrão, Di Maria, Modric, Ozil, Khedira…) Real barely made beyond the last 16 in the previous seasons…”

I’m absolutely certain only Mourinho had the relentless cruelty necessary to nab a league title off Guardiola’s Barca. Sadly, the experience broke his genius, but still, what a genius.

65 min Changes for Liverpool, Bradley and Nunez for Alexander-Arnold and Jota.

63 min A stray flash of Cunha, beating Alexander-Arnold to a risky pass from Gravenberch and punching a pass into Gomes, inside the box; he dips inside, then unfurls a curler … that wafts wide.

61 min Agbadou, who now knows more of what “oor league” is about, can’t continue and is replaced by Bueno.

60 min Agbadou, hurt making the challenge, is still down receiving treatment.

58 min VAR summons the ref

57 min PENALTY TO LIVERPOOL!

55 min “Always think Viera gets a rough deal,” says Tom, “being in the shadow of Henry so to speak because of Henry’s goalscoring prowess. Peak Viera has to be
up there with anyone really although you mention Keane who won more.”

I love Vieira and I’m biased in favour of Keane, but I don’t think this is much of a comparison. United won more than Arsenal significantly because Keane was better than Vieira, and of the three titles Vieira’s Arsenal won, Keane did his cruciate in 97-98, missed just enough games for it to make the difference in 01-02 and was over the hill by 03-04. Wonderful, wonderful player though/

53 min I owe Munetsi an apology, I think: he swept a decent finish above Alisson’s dive, only to hit the keeper in the head, meaning the save that is even more Casillas than I thought. I’ve never seen anyone so good at stopping shots apparently by accident.

51 min Saha is away, he passes into the far corner … and the flag’s up

50 min Ball into Bellgarde, who flicks beautifully, and Munetsi is in! He looks up, composes and, with the sight of Alisson advancing, panics, passing a tepid finish into the keeper’s dive. Good save, though – there’s a touch of Iker Casillas in how Alisson makes strikers rush and look poor.

48 min “Completely agree on the original Ronaldo, truly magnificent player! says Henry. “I may be biased as a Liverpool fan, but I find very few of our players to be irritating or dirty. That said, while I love his hard work, Diaz always needs to leave his foot in and exaggerate contact for penalties, and it drives me nuts! There’s already enough contact, there’s no need for it. Another point, Konate is a talented player, but his occasional idiotic decisions make me always feel that the defence with him will never be as secure as it should be. I mean, why go for that header?!”

Konate is one of those who shows how hard defending is – the raw materials are all there, but he can’t quite keep hold of them, hence the impetuosity we saw this afternoon. And at 25, you’ve got to assume he is who he is.

46 min A poor touch from Salah – it’s an epidemic! – and Bellegarde has space down the left, tucking back a cut-back that Quansah does well to intercept as Cunha looks to shoot.