Liverpool in the hands of Wolves in FA Cup thriller
Liverpool were held to a 2-2 draw at Anfield by Wolverhampton Wanderers in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday night. The result means the two sides will face off again in a replay that would determine who advances to the fourth round of the competition.
Wolves took the lead in the 26th minute after a roar from Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker who, in an attempt to play out from behind, passed the ball directly to Goncalo Guedes. The 26-year-old striker took full advantage by slipping home much to the delight of the traveling squad.
Wolves were the better of the two sides in the first half, but failed to make their dominance count as Liverpool restored equality on the stroke of half-time.
Trent Alexander Arnold played a brilliant, lofty ball from the right flank that was emphatically pushed in by Darwin Nunez. The Uruguayan striker judged the flight of the ball to perfection and timed his one-touch finish past Matija Sarkic into the Wolves goal.
Liverpool came out of the two sides better after the break, taking the lead in the 52nd minute after a mistake by Wolves defender Toti Gomes, who got his header all wrong when trying to clear Alexander-Arnold’s cross. Mohammed Salah jumped on the ball, straightened his feet and shot in, much to the delight of the Anfield faithful.
Wolves should have made two more after 58 minutes as Rayan Ait Nouri was through on goal, but Alisson redeemed himself by blocking the shot on goal. Nunez had a few chances to take the game past Wolves, but the traveling squad provided great resilience, restoring parity in the 66e minute.
Substitute Hwang Hee-chan fired his shot past Alisson from close range after playing a one-two with Matheus Cunha to stun Liverpool on that night. Julen Lopetegui’s side must have thought they had the winner when Gomes scored in the 82nd minute, but VAR ruled the goal due to offside in the build-up. Both sides went in search of the winning goal but it was not to be as the match ended completely square and a replay would be needed to determine which side goes through.
Speaking of the result, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said: “I think it was a good dominant start with really good football moments and then we conceded. The goal should not happen. We came back with a fantastic equalizer, everything is clear. “on the other hand, they’re dominant performances until they get a little foot in the game and we don’t challenge enough. Then it’s really difficult and they gave us problems. We scored a second goal, fine, but we had problems.”
Photo: IMAGO / Propaganda photo
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