How the national media reacted to Liverpool’s 2-1 home win over Wolves in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon
So the run continues. Liverpool moved on to seven games unbeaten with a hard-earned 2-1 Premier League victory at home to rock-bottom Wolves on Saturday.
Ryan Gravenberch and Florian Wirtz scored the goals that ultimately moved the Reds back into the top four and the Champions League qualification berths for the first time in almost two months.
But it was a difficult afternoon. And while the ECHO was in attendance and provided our usual level of coverage, here’s how the national media viewed a positive result for Arne Slot’s side.
READ MORE: Wolves boss Rob Edwards admits Liverpool game felt ‘different’ after Diogo Jota tributes
Paul Joyce, formerly of this parish, pointed in The Times at another second-half slump from the Reds.
“Of course, Liverpool being Liverpool, the luxury of a routine success proved beyond them,” he pens. “There have been too many jittery starts to second-halves for Slot’s liking and far too many concessions from set pieces. Both eventualities played out here.
“A corner from Andre was met by Tolu Arokodare, and though Alisson saved his header a 100th Premier League clean sheet by the Brazilian for Liverpool was elusive. Santiago Bueno pounced on the rebound to offer hope to Wolves where, really, there should have been none.
“Liverpool have now conceded 12 goals from set pieces — seven from corners alone — and such a frailty is maddening for the manager.
“With tension seeping back into the host’s performance, a sign of how confidence remains fragile when everything does not go their way, Ibrahima Konate gestured for the home crowd to provide more backing.”
Andy Hunter, another ex-ECHO scribe, wrote in The Guardian about the emotional occasion of a first meeting between Diogo Jota’s two former Premier League clubs since his tragic death during the summer.
“Jota’s two sons, Dinis and Duarte, and other young family members were mascots for the first meeting between the late striker’s two English clubs since his death in July,” he writes.
“It was a lovely touch by Liverpool to involve the family so closely in proceedings though heartbreaking to see the children walk out alongside Virgil van Dijk with their mum, Jota’s widow, Rute Cardoso, watching on from the sidelines and their dad’s retired number 20 on their backs.
“The Liverpool captain looked after the youngsters brilliantly throughout the warm-up. Wolves supporters sang their Jota song in the 18th minute and Liverpool fans followed suit with their customary tribute in the 20th.”
Young hack Lewis Steele reflected in the Daily Mail on the contribution of matchwinner Wirtz.
“Wirtz scored his first Liverpool goal at the 23rd time of asking and the German started to dictate proceedings in the fashion Liverpool’s scouts would have seen him do hundreds of times for Bayer Leverkusen,” he taps.
“The 22-year-old has been on a special programme to bulk up to the intensity of English football with Wirtz putting on around two kilograms. Hard shifts in the gym are finally paying dividends and, in this game, he looked two or three steps ahead of everyone else on the pitch.
“Shimmying past challenges, picking eye-of-the-needle passes and, at long last, proving he knows where the goal is with a clever run and tidy finish. He has all the hard-working German efficiency you may expect off the ball coupled with a Spanish-like deft touch and creative eye.”
Richard Jolly of The Independent was another to instead take a gloomy view on a fourth successive victory for Liverpool.
“It became a seventh game unbeaten; in the Premier League, they have 14 points from the last 18 available,” he says. “But the facts can paint an overly flattering picture. They made heavy weather of beating a team who have now made the longest winless start to a top-flight season since 1902-03.
“There was the familiar frailty when Liverpool were put under pressure at the back. Nine-man Tottenham might have taken a point against the champions. So could doomed Wolves. They got a goal, and in somewhat predictable fashion.”
Finally, the tall man Paul Gorst opined in the ECHO that Liverpool are still making things difficult for themselves.
“So, how best to judge Liverpool as they approach the halfway point of their campaign?” he asks. “This was a win that showed flashes of promise and plenty of concern, pretty much encapsulating the season so far in the process.
“The Reds might have extended their run to seven games without defeat enroute to a third straight Premier League triumph but a better side than Wolves might have punished their failure to kill off their opponents when they had their chance.
“Even against the worst side in the division, who are without a win all season, a large portion of this game was spent living on the edge. It was all so needless.”
