Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk unleashed his frustration at Federico Chiesa following Wolves’ match-winning goal at Molineux. Rob Edwards’ side secured a shock 2-1 victory in the Premier League as the Reds missed a chance to move into fourth spot. Mohamed Salah struck an 83rd-minute equaliser in a frantic finale after Rodrigo Gomes had broken the deadlock in the Midlands.
And Andre prompted jubilant scenes in Wolverhampton with a 94th-minute winner. Liverpool captain Van Dijk was incensed following the late blow and screamed at Chiesa, clearly displeased with the Italian’s defensive efforts. Alisson had delivered a ball towards the winger, but following their failure to link up, Chiesa neglected to track back in a bid to recover possession. Andre’s strike then ricocheted past the Brazilian goalkeeper and nestled in the net. Multiple concerns surfaced in the post-match analysis.
Van Dijk adopted a more composed tone in his post-match remarks, although he remained disappointed by how the defeat unfolded.
« Conceding goals is always frustrating, » he told TNT Sport when asked if there were any frustrations about the manner of the two Wolves goals. « Obviously we’ve come on the back of a couple of clean sheets and I think defensively we have been very solid.
« But yeah, listen, it is what it is and we have to move quickly on because we come back here in a couple of days and we want to do well in the FA Cup as well and we have to show a reaction. »
Two players were blamed for Andre’s winning goal post-match – Alisson and Curtis Jones. Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard believes his old team were lazy in reacting to a blunder from Alisson.
« The Liverpool players from the goalkeeper’s mistake – it’s not the greatest clearance from Alisson – but I just thought they were slow to react in midfield as well, » he remarked on TNT Sports.
« You know, Wolves are jumping on the first ball, picking up the second ball. It’s a poor goal from a Liverpool perspective to concede, and it’s another late one. It’s happened too many times that they’re conceding these late goals.
« I just think the speed of the reaction from the poor clearance – I’m sure Alisson will want to own up to it – but the reaction’s just too slow. »
However, ex-Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock pointed the finger elsewhere. He pinpointed the pass to Alisson from Curtis Jones as the main problem.
« It was a mistake from Curtis Jones – he plays a ball into Alisson and Alisson’s never going to get any purchase on it, » Warnock asserted on BBC Radio 5 Live.
« Andre looked heavy in the last five or so minutes but he takes a shot and it takes a wicked deflection to loop over Alisson. »
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