The relentless Liverpool FC machine trundled on at Anfield beating Wolves 1-0 in a tight game where VAR will have grabbed most of the headlines. Liverpool won’t mind though as they end 2019 with only one Premier League defeat in the entire year. A 2-1 loss to Man City at the Etihad on New Year’s Day 2019. By the time the Reds take on Sheffield United on the 2nd of January they will have gone a full year without a Premier League defeat.
And the numbers just get better for Reds’ fans. Liverpool have now won 27 games from their last 28 Premier League games, with the other being that draw at Old Trafford. They have won 18 and drawn 1 since the start of this season taking them to 55 points, 14 ahead of reigning Premier League Champions Man City in 3rd place and 13 points clear of 2nd place Leicester, having played a game less!
Liverpool started this game pretty well and dominated the early exchanges. Adam Lallana, the one change from the team that comfortably dealt with Leicester in the previous game, found Trent free on the right early on and his driving delivery across the six yard box was turned over the bar by Mo Salah. Liverpool continued to dominate possession and had a good chance when the ball fell to Wijnaldum in the middle of the box after a Liverpool corner was partially cleared, he controlled it nicely with his left foot only to spoon the ball over with his right.
Sadio Mane would later direct a header from a Virgil Van Dijk long ball towards Mo Salah who connected sweetly with it on the volley but put it straight at the Wolves keeper. After another opportunity in the box for Sadio Mane was spurned, Roberto Firmino headed just wide from a corner.
Liverpool had not created any golden chances until VVD controlled a ball from Andrew Robertson and played another searching ball into the box towards Adam Lallana running through the centre who shouldered the ball nicely into Sadio Mane’s path and the Liverpool forward finished only for the referee to blow his whistle and rule the goal out for handball. This, inevitably, was reviewed by VAR and the decision was rightly overturned and Liverpool had their breakthrough.
Most agreed that Lallana did not handle the ball but some argued that VVD did handle it in the build-up. Having seen all the replays, he simply didn’t, but if he did the goal would still have stood as the handball rule only applies to direct handballs into the goal or as a direct assist. The VVD moment was long before that.
So Liverpool were given their goal but after a long wait for VAR the players seemed to be knocked off their focus, it really felt like Wolves might equalise and it soon seemed like they did. A low slightly mishit cross through the edge of the Liverpool box caught a number of Liverpool defenders ball watching and running towards the goal, the ball skimmed behind them all before they could react, Firmino got a slight touch on it but only into the path of the Wolves attacker Pedro Neto who fired home past a diving Allison. Neto then turned to the new Anfield Main Stand and slid on his knees in front of the Liverpool crowd to celebrate, he was quickly joined by former Liverpool player Conor Coady.
Not very nice celebrating in front of the Liverpool fans like that and karma would deal with them pretty swiftly. The player who crossed the ball for the ‘goal’ was adjudged to have been offside, just, and VAR duly ruled the goal out. The pictures from later showed his foot to be just ahead of Henderson’s knee and so rightly ruled offside according to the current rules. Much whining and gnashing of teeth ensued, but Liverpool march on toward the Premier League title.
