What Ibrahima Konate did in closing minutes of Liverpool win illustrated the nerves at Anfield
Liverpool have made it four wins in a row and seven games unbeaten across all competitions with victory over Wolves at Anfield on Saturday afternoon, moving back into the top four of the Premier League for at least a couple of hours.
Once again, though, the Reds went from being in a seemingly comfortable position to clinging on for dear life for the final whistle, just as they were in the 2-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.
Two goals in 90 seconds from Ryan Gravenberch and Florian Wirtz shortly before half-time ultimately decided the game for the champions, but their set-piece deficiencies were exposed yet again by Santiago Bueno early in the second half to cut the gap.
In the end, Liverpool were indebted to an immaculate tackle from Conor Bradley to nick the ball ahead of Jhon Arias when the Wolves atttacker looked set to equalise five minutes from the end of normal time, and the nerves were palpable around Anfield in the closing stages.
Sky Sports reporter Adam Bate noticed a signal from Ibrahima Konate towards the fans as the game entered the final 10 minutes, with the French defender ‘gesturing to the crowd to raise the noise’ amid an evident mood of ‘discomfort’ inside the stadium.
A tale of two very different halves of football for Liverpool
You need only look at the second-half statistics to get a picture of how this match went from being firmly within Liverpool’s control to one of frayed nerves among the home supporters.
As per Sofascore, from the 46th minute onwards, Wolves had an xG of 1.01 compared to the Reds’ 0.38, with both teams having six shots each. It was quite the contrast from the first half, when the home side bossed the xG stakes by 1.18 to 0.06 and had eight shots to the visitors’ three.
Rob Edwards’ side deserve credit for their second-half performance, which certainly wasn’t that of a team who’ve picked up a paltry total of two points from 18 Premier League games, and they could well have snatched a draw were it not for Bradley’s exceptional tackle.
In three of Liverpool’s last four league matches, they led 2-0 and seemed to be in firm control, only to offer the opposition a lifebuoy. Spurs and Wolves couldn’t quite seize it, but Leeds did, and the Whites will fancy their chances of rattling the champions again on New Year’s Day.
The next time that the Reds take a two-goal lead, Arne Slot will be desperate for his team to drive their advantage home and not get complacent or commit a daft error to give their opponents renewed hope. Konate sensed that and sought to rouse the fans whose nerves were understandably frayed.
The post What Ibrahima Konate did in closing minutes of Liverpool win illustrated the nerves at Anfield appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.