Wolves 1-3 Liverpool: Cody Gakpo, Andy Robertson and a Hugo Bueno own goal seal win for Reds

Jurgen Klopp bemoaned a sluggish first-half performance from Liverpool against Wolves but praised his side’s resilience as they fought back from a goal down to win for the third time in five games in Premier League.

The Reds went from strength to strength after the break and drew level when Cody Gakpo converted Mohamed Salah’s blazing cross-shot.

Andy Robertson then marked his 200th Premier League appearance by putting the Reds ahead for the first time on 85 minutes, before substitute Harvey Elliott deflected in from Hugo Bueno for an own goal to victory would be sealed in stoppage time.

The win moved Klopp’s side a point clear at the top of the table before 3pm on Saturday.

“It’s like we just met in the parking lot before the game with the organization in the first half,” Klopp told TNT Sports. “The good thing is that it was so bad that we couldn’t play bad in the second half.

“We changed the system and one player and we have a little more natural speed up front. We control the game better.

“We have a good team, there’s no doubt about it. We have a very strong bench now.

The stalwart Reds are back again

Liverpool offered little attacking threat in the opening 45 minutes as their midfield were often overrun, after the break at the back.

Klopp brought on Luis Diaz for the lost Alexis Mac Allister at half-time, before bringing on Elliott and Darwin Nunez 11 minutes after the restart.

The substitutes made an impact as Liverpool changed, with Diaz heading wide from Robertson’s volleyed cross 90 seconds after arriving.

The Colombian was soon involved in the equalizer as some neat interplay on the edge of the box saw the ball eventually reach Salah, whose drilled cross-shot was tapped home by Gakpo.

Nunez came close to putting Liverpool ahead but his shot was well blocked by the combination of goalkeeper Jose Sa and defender Max Kilman.

Wolves are looking at their feet and the visitors are the most likely to score.

They did so with five minutes remaining when Robertson, captaining in the absence of the suspended Virgil van Dijk, ran onto Salah’s searching pass and side-footed home from six yards.

Elliott wrapped up the win late on but had the goal disallowed when his shot was adjudged to have deflected enough off Bueno to fall into the Wolves defender’s own goal.

Net stars but the Wolves ran out of gas

Wolves manager Gary O’Neil has reasons to be optimistic despite a fourth defeat from five games this season, leaving the Black Country side near the foot of the Premier League.

“For us to compete with Liverpool we have to compete above our level. We did that for 45 minutes and then maybe threw the odd punch in the second half,” O’Neil said on BBC Match of the Day .

“It looked like a comfortable win for Liverpool but it wasn’t comfortable for most of the afternoon.”

The home side were excellent in the first half, with midfielders Joao Gomes and Mario Lemina snapping at the heels of Liverpool’s players and feeding debutant Jeanricner Bellegarde and Neto to launch quick counter-attacks. attack.

Neto in particular was excellent and set up the opener when he beat three Liverpool players and jumped into the area, before crossing low for goalscorer Hwang.

Another piece of dazzling wing play saw him nutmeg Joe Gomez and cut in an impressive cross for Matheus Cunha, who misjudged his diving goal at his mercy.

Cunha blamed that miss as Wolves faded in the second half in front of a resurgent Liverpool, who failed to have a shot on target.

Next week’s trip to fellow early struggles Luton looks to be a crucial encounter.

Player of the game

RobertsonAndy Robertson

Wolverhampton Wanderers

1. Squad number7Player namePedro Neto

2. Squad number11Player nameHwang Hee-chan

3. Squad number27Player nameBellegarde

4. Squad number15Player nameDawson

5. Squad number8Player nameJoão Gomes

6. Squad number5Player nameLamina

7. Squad number23Player nameKilman

8. Squad number3Player nameAit-Nouri

9. Squad number22Player nameNelson Semedo

10. Squad number1Player nameJosé Sa

11. Squad number12Player nameMatheus Cunha

12. Squad number2Player nameDoherty

13. Squad number6Player nameTraore

14. Squad number20Player nameDoyle

15. Squad number17Player namewell then

16. Squad number9Player nameFabio Silva