Liverpool went 40 games unbeaten Thursday as they grinded a 2-1 victory at Molineux Stadium, breaking the hearts of hard-fighting hosts Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The winning goal came in the 84th minute from Brazilian striker Roberto Firmino, assisted by a clinical pass in the box by Jordan Henderson.
Henderson had opened scoring in the eighth minute for the visitors by converting a cross by Alexander Arnold. But six minutes after resumption in the second Raul Jimenez scored with a header for the hosts to make the outcome of the tight match unpredictable.
But Liverpool as they have shown this season, always have an answer, with Firmino, proving once again decisive.
With the victory, the Reds have now extended their lead on the table to 16 points, scoring 67 out of 69 points available. And they still have a game in hand, against West Ham United. Defending champions Manchester United have 51 points, to trail in the second position.
Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp remarked about the match:
“We changed the system two or three times today, they let us play until the final third which allowed them counter-attack on us , but a magic moment from Bobby Firmino was the difference! After Sadio went off, we’re not sure how bad his injury is yet, we had to change the formation to a 4-3-3, which means we missed one player for playing balls in behind. We had to stay in the game and wait for someone to step up, which was Bobby again”.
Wolves coach Nuno Santo gave his own reading of the match: “It was a very good performance. Defensively we were organised and we played good. We created chances and the momentum was there but we faced a very good team. I am very happy with the boys. What was missing today we have to search for next week so we can compete better”
Lievrpool captain Jordan Henderson added:”You know it’s going to be a difficult game here, they’re a good team and they make you work. It was an intense game but we kept fighting, kept defending – we had some chances again which we need to improve on but we showed our mentality to keep going. We keep saying it but every game is the biggest game of the season, we just want to keep going and building on what we’ve achieved so far”
