Things could have gone far more smoothly for Liverpool had Salah not seen a second goal shortly after half-time ruled out for offside, while they also saw a second penalty award overturned after referee Simon Hooper had been advised to consult the pitchside monitor by VAR having initially pointed to the spot again after Emmanuel Agbadou’s challenge on Jota inside the box.
The Reds held on against relegation-battling opponents at Anfield to restore their seven-point lead over closest title challengers Arsenal at the top-flight summit, despite Matheus Cunha’s brilliant strike with just over 20 minutes to play that teed up a grandstand finish after Liverpool had led 2-0 at half-time thanks to Luis Diaz’s early goal - his first of 2025 - and a Mohamed Salah penalty awarded for Jose Sa’s foul on Diaz.
Wolves were much improved after the interval and created plenty of chances, but ultimately could not find that elusive second goal as Alisson saved from new signing Marshall Munetsi, who was also prevented from turning home fellow substitute Tommy Doyle’s cross late on by a vital last-ditch challenge from Jarell Quansah.
Slot had been left furious by the officials’ failure to rule out Everton’s last-gasp equaliser against his side on Wednesday night, also feeling that too much extra stoppage time had been played before James Tarkowski’s emphatic 98th-minute volley as he and assistant Sipke Hulshoff were both shown post-match red cards for their protests to referee Michael Oliver.
Slot and Hulshoff - as well as both clubs - were subsequently hit by Football Association (FA) charges on Friday and will now wait to find out their punishment as they were permitted to be in the dugout against Wolves as normal, though the Liverpool boss evidently had no issues with the decisions that went against his team on Sunday.
