Liverpool were forced to settle for a draw in their FA Cup third round clash against Wolves.
The Reds were held to a 2-2 stalemate at Anfield on Saturday night. It means that Liverpool will have to take part in a replay at Molineux, with a date for the tie yet to be confirmed.
Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah scored the goals for Liverpool to hand them a chance of progressing to the fourth round. However, Goncalo Guedes and Hwang Hee-chan strikes for the visitors mean a replay will be needed to determine the winner.
AS IT HAPPENED: Liverpool vs Wolves LIVE - final score, Salah and Nunez goals, VAR offside explained, Klopp reaction
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Plenty of national media outlets were in attendance to watch Liverpool’s draw. Here is a round-up of what they had to say.
Jamie Jackson via The Guardian
“The hapless way Liverpool gave up each of Wolves’s goals might have been taken from a West End farce. Alisson was the culprit for the gift that was Gonçalo Guedes’s opener, Ibrahima Konaté the man in the frame for the Hwang Hee-chan strike that takes this tie into a replay.
“Towards the end there even was a third comedy of errors when a Liverpool goalmouth scramble after a corner led to Toti putting the ball in the net only for offside to be given, puzzlingly. It emerged subsequently that the decision was against the taker of the corner, Matheus Nunes, to whom the ball had returned, though no TV angle seemed to confirm the decision.
“So it was that Jürgen Klopp’s men escaped. Seeing as he should rate the FA Cup as Liverpool’s best chance of a trophy this season – they trail Arsenal by 16 points in the Premier League, are out of the Carabao Cup and meet Real Madrid in the Champions League – he can feel relieved.
“Wolves, though, ended understandably furious – Julen Lopetegui was booked for his complaints – about the chalked-off finish. But, on this showing, the Spaniard should fancy Wolves’s chances in the rematch as Liverpool’s shaky rearguard appears to need a close-season reboot rather than a mid-season patch-up job.”
Dominic King, via the Mail Online
“Jurgen Klopp pulled a face on Friday lunchtime when he was presented with a question about FA Cup replays and their worth in the modern game.
“Liverpool’s manager would banish them immediately, if he had the chance, but on reflection he must surely be relieved they remain part of the calendar. Without them, he would be staring at a crisis and his team’s defence of this trophy would be over already.
“There were many things during this helter-skelter 90 minutes that Klopp would have wanted to see, such as Darwin Nunez answering his critics with a much-needed goal and an important contribution from his latest signing Cody Gakpo.
“So much of this contest, however, will only meant his bushy beard going a little greyer. Wolves, really, should have repeated their feat of 2016 and knocked Liverpool out of the FA Cup at Anfield. They were the ones who played as if at full-strength, not the team in Red.
“Had Wolves not been given a second opportunity to have a crack at Liverpool, it would have been a travesty. They look reinvigorated and dangerous and will certainly fancy their chances of finishing the job at Molineux.
“A sense of lackadaisicalness in the air almost from the opening whistle. Perhaps the relative strengths of the team had convinced the home supporters that everything would be straightforward but, given Liverpool’s form, that was quite a dramatic show of faith.
“You cannot fail to notice that Liverpool’s intensity has dropped off and it is in moments such as when the usually reliable Joel Matip dithers and almost gets pickpocketed that it really becomes apparent how much they are off the pace.”
Chris Bascombe via The Telegraph
“The Liverpool of last season remain a flickering memory to Jurgen Klopp.
“Their grip on the FA Cup is just about intact, but Wolverhampton Wanderers are the latest to demonstrate how much work must be done at Anfield to restore this flailing team’s lustre.
“This was another ramshackle Liverpool display, full of defensive calamities in which Klopp had to thank the officials for a generous decision to deny Tote Gomes the winning goal. Wolves were furious they did not secure the victory after a lengthy Var intervention ruled out what Gomes believed would be an 80th minute winner.
“His manager Julen Lopetegui was booked in the aftermath as - like many - could not see how it was offside.
“The new appointment can at least take consolation from a replay and - perhaps more important - his team looks unrecognisable from that which seemed destined for relegation before his appointment before the World Cup. Liverpool, in contrast, are still trying to reconnect with the best version of themselves.
“There were some sparks of encouragement, especially the performance of Darwin Nunez who struck a brilliant volley which helped Liverpool build momentum either side of half-time.
“Cody Gakpo also made his debut and had a role in Mohamed Salah putting Liverpool ahead. But Wolves were well worth their draw and will wonder how and why they were not celebrating a famous win.”
Jonathan Northcroft, via The Times
“Like a madman playing charades, and going for the ‘TV show’ option, there was Julen Lopetegui wagging his fingers and drawing a screen shape with a wild and angry look in his eyes.
“The Wolves manager will have mixed memories of his first FA Cup game. He’ll be proud of how his team played but may forever feel the sting of injustice after two dubious offside decisions denied him a famous win, and forced a replay.
“The first involved Liverpool’s second goal, scored by Mohamed Salah, after a generous interpretation of the rules deemed Salah onside.”
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