Liverpool secured a hard-fought 3-1 victory over the bottom-ranked Wolverhampton Wanderers. Jürgen Klopp's team only made the difference in the final phase with two goals. Dutch international Cody Gakpo had earlier scored Liverpool's first goal.
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With the victory, Liverpool takes over the top spot from Manchester City, at least for a few hours. After five matches, Liverpool has 13 points, 1 point more than City. The Manchester team will play an away match against West Ham United on Saturday afternoon.
Against Wolverhampton, Klopp could not call upon the suspended Virgil van Dijk and the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold. Without the experienced defenders, the backline struggled particularly in the first half against the home team.
Wolverhampton, having only scored four goals in the first four matches, opened the scoring in the 7th minute. The dangerous Portuguese, Pedro Neto, cut through the Liverpool defense and found Hwang Hee-chan at the back post, with the Korean calmly slotting the ball home, 1-0.
The Wolves had more opportunities through Neto, after which Matheus Cunha squandered a significant chance to make it 2-0. Gakpo was close to equalizing just before halftime, but he didn't strike the ball well. Ten minutes after the break, the Dutchman did level the score, tapping the ball into an empty net after being set up by Mohamed Salah. It was his last touch before being substituted.
With three fresh attackers, Liverpool gained the upper hand during the second half. A combination between substitutes Luis Díaz and Darwin Núñez almost resulted in a goal, but the latter's effort was narrowly blocked. Ultimately, it was Andrew Robertson who brought relief. After another pass from Salah, the captain scored five minutes from time (1-2). Harvey Elliot then found the net with a shot deflected off Hugo Bueno's leg, making it 1-3. Ryan Gravenberch replaced Salah during injury time.
Updated: 05:25, 16 Sep 2023
