Moments you may not have spotted during Liverpool’s Premier League game against Wolves on Sunday afternoon
Liverpool held on for an important victory to re-establish their lead at the Premier League summit with a 2-1 home win over Wolves on Sunday afternoon. Luis Diaz opened the scoring before a Mohamed Salah penalty during the first half with the Reds then holding on after Matheus Cunha pulled a goal back for the visitors.
Arne Slot’s side are now once again seven points clear of second-placed Arsenal at the top of the table with each having 13 top-flight games remaining
But there was plenty that went unnoticed or under the radar during the 90 minutes at Anfield…
Darwin Nunez would be the first to admit his cameo from the bench during the second half at the weekend was not his most impactful display for Liverpool, even if the Uruguayan would have benefited from receiving greater service
One moment when Nunez allowed a throw-in to bounce off his shins and go out for a needless goal kick for Wolves effectively summed up his afternoon.
And not long after the striker was introduced, a break in play prompted Arne Slot to shout at Nunez from the touchline before forcibly making a point to the player. Not that it made much difference, sadly
With the threat of an extended touchline ban hanging over him following his post-match red card at Everton last week, Slot was very much on his best behaviour for this fixture.
That could be observed after the final whistle when Slot made a point of approaching referee Simon Hooper and his fellow match officials with a cheery smile and a big handshake.
And in his post-match media briefing, Slot went out of his way to point out the decisions to disallow Mohamed Salah’s second-half goal and overturn Diogo Jota’s penalty were very much the right calls. Which was nice.
Salah unimpressed
While Salah didn’t really have many complaints with the offside call – he gestured at the time it was probably a close one – the same couldn’t be said about the protection, or lack of it, he received from the officials.
And that came to a head during the second half when he was manhandled one time too many by Wolves left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri near the touchline.
Cue the usually composed Salah flailing his arms around in indignation and frustration at yet another missed offence. You tell ’em, Mo.
Wolves silenced
To say Wolves have had the rough end of the stick with VAR over the last 18 months would be something of an understatement. Even West Bromwich Albion fans would concede their great rivals have been a tad unfortunate with some baffling decisions
Hence their supporters’ regular chant claiming matters at the Premier League may not quite be above board, which was aired when Ibrahima Konate escaped a second yellow card shortly before half-time at the weekend.
However, they weren’t to be heard when VAR did Wolves a favour with the two incidents in the second half. Funny, that