Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club.
Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux.
Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year.
Photo: AP
However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool.
It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017.
Liverpool have conceded 14 goals in the last 15 minutes of the second half, including five in the 90th minute or later — the most by any side in a single season in the Premier League era.
Photo: Action Images via Reuters
The Reds remain fifth, but their hopes of qualifying for next season’s UEFA Champions League have been hurt.
Liverpool’s first defeat in five games in all competitions would raise fresh questions about Slot’s Anfield future.
“Bad result,” Slot said. “We are losing far too many football games and dropping points.”
“Was it again in extra [added] time that we conceded? The three times we lost in the last 22 games were all in extra-time,” he said.
This was the first of Liverpool’s two trips to Molineux in the space of four days, with an immediate chance for revenge in the FA Cup fifth round tomorrow.
Slot this week said he no longer finds Premier League matches a “joy to watch” due to the rise in set-piece goals, and Liverpool supporters took no pleasure from this dismal performance.
Wolves and Liverpool fans joined in a sustained round of applause on 18 minutes in memory of Diogo Jota, who wore that shirt number during his time at Molineux before joining the Reds.
Portugal forward Jota died in a car crash in Spain last year.
Liverpool were punished for their lethargic performance in the 78th minute.
Tolu Arokodare got away with a nudge on Virgil van Dijk to win the ball before playing a superb pass to Rodrigo Gomes, who held off Ibrahima Konate and guided a clinical finish past Alisson Becker.
Liverpool finally awoke from their slumber after that shock, grabbing an equalizer in the 83rd minute with a helping hand from Wolves.
Wolves midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde was guilty of a woeful pass that Salah intercepted, racing into the area for a shot that eluded Jose Sa’s weak attempted save.
However, Liverpool were still creaky at the back, and Andre pounced on Alisson’s poor clearance to steal the points in stoppage-time.
Andre’s powerful strike deflected off Liverpool defender Joe Gomez and looped over the wrong-footed Alisson as Wolves boss Rob Edwards sprinted down the touchline in a wild celebration while Slot looked on crestfallen.
Wolves are 11 points from safety with eight games left and relegation remains almost certain despite this memorable victory.
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