Ruben Neves joked that "three goals" weren't enough to beat Liverpool after Wolves had to settle for a replay in the teams' controversial FA Cup clash.
Neves' Wolves thought they'd scored a dramatic late winner at Anfield, only for the offside flag to be raised and VAR be unable to accurately review the linesman's decision because of a lack of camera angles. Defender Toti Gomes had back-heeled the ball into Liverpool's goal in the 82nd minute with the scoreline 2-2, but Matheus Nunes was adjudged to have been offside in the build-up.
The decision not to award the goal, which would've surely dumped holders Liverpool out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle, left Wolves fuming. New boss Julen Lopetegui claimed that his coaching staff had proof that Nunes wasn't offside on their tactical camera, and the visiting players were just as incensed when they saw the footage back, including captain Neves.
Looking ahead to returning the third-round replay Molineux, the 25-year-old midfielder wrote on Instagram : "So proud of everyone!! Massive effort!! Unfortunately 3 goals at Anfield was not enough to go through, but now we will play at home!! A fantastic support from our fans as well. See you all on Wednesday [in the EFL Cup away to Nottingham Forest ]."
Neves' post-match message was much more upbeat than his manager's, who had no issue with a human error but was dumbfounded that VAR were unable to accurately review the game-changing call. "The offside that we had – we have seen it, the offside doesn't exist, I'm sorry," Lopetegui, who was shown a yellow card for his protests, bemoaned.
"It's impossible. Someone has told him [the referee] it's offside, but we've seen the images, it doesn't exist. The decision is wrong. I make mistakes every day, and sometimes they do too. It is a pity, because I'm sorry, it's not offside."
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp admitted that he understood Wolves' anger, saying: "I'm not sure about their third goal. We have one picture where it may look offside, but I can understand why they are angry about it... We don't want the VAR to just have one angle."
The decision bemused punters around the globe, with the ITV punditry team not exempt. "We sat in the studio trying to figure out, so are the crowd and the bench," ex-Liverpool striker Emile Heskey explained.
102-time capped former England Women's international Eni Aluko added: "State-of-the-art stadiums - just show it in on the screen. The clarity needs to be there. It is offside, Nunes was in an offside position, but that wasn't initially clear. Now we have the decision but it has to be clearer."
Have your say! Who'll win the replay - Liverpool or Wolves? Give us your prediction in the comments section.
What stung Wolves further was the fact that Liverpool's second goal was controversially given, despite scorer Mohamed Salah standing in an offside position when he received the ball. It was Portuguese centre-back Gomes involved again, as he haplessly attempted to intercept Cody Gakpo 's cross towards Salah, who was onside in the initial phase.
Because the Liverpool forward hadn't directly influenced Gomes from the offside position, he was able to pick up the pieces and slot home to make it 2-1. Wolves - who'd taken a shock lead in the game before Darwin Nunez levelled for the hosts - found an equaliser 14 minutes later, as substitute Hwang Hee-Chan prodded through Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker 's legs to force a replay.
