Post-match reaction from BirminghamWorld reporter Charlie Haffenden after Wolves 1-2 Liverpool in the Premier League, with goals from Ibrahima Konate, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Mohamed Salah.
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00:00Wolves are still without a win in the Premier League this season, following tonight's 2-1
00:05defeat to Liverpool at Molineux. Another unfortunate result, another defeat for Gary O'Neill's
00:11men who are slumped at the bottom of Premier League standings, remaining so with just one
00:15point from their opening six fixtures. Also the goal difference taking a little bit of
00:19a battering in some earlier fixtures. But tonight, defensively, a lot better, a lot
00:23more sound, but unfortunately Liverpool were just ruthless. And they are, they are of course
00:27going to be ruthless, because they are fighting, potentially this season, for the Premier League
00:31title under Arne Schlott. Two ruthless moments, one powerful header from Ibrahima Kanate before
00:36the break, and a penalty converted by Mohamed Salah were enough. Ryan Ait Nouri did get
00:41an equaliser in the start of the second half, but it was very quickly cancelled out and
00:47overridden by Mohamed Salah's penalty. It was a bit of a scrappy goal for Wolves, but
00:51they didn't care at the time. Jorgen Strand-Larsen was determined to win the ball back after
00:55a through ball, got it back off Kanate, cut it to Carlos Forbes, who came off the bench
01:01early in the second half, flicked through to Ait Nouri, who hammered home from close
01:05range to give Wolves a lifeline. Or so they thought. They didn't really have enough time
01:09to process making it 1-1 before Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot. And I think rightfully
01:14so. There was a lot of complaints from Nelson Samedo, who bundled over Diogo Jota, but he
01:18was all over the back of Jota. He didn't get goalside, he made his mistake, allowed Jota
01:23in behind for the cross, and it was a fair penalty in my opinion. Maybe having looked
01:27at it from a few more replays I might have a different opinion, but at least from live
01:31time that was my opinion, and one angle of the replay anyway. 2-1 to Liverpool at that
01:36point. Wolves, they did try, they were positive, and made some positive substitutions, bringing
01:41off a central defender for Tommy Doyle, and it looked as if they were going to push on
01:45for a potential equaliser. Carlos Forbes had a decent chance, blocked by Ibrahimov Kanate,
01:51but Liverpool were just able to sit in with their lead, control the play, pass side to
01:55side quite slowly, as you would do in that position, and held on for three points. So
02:00it is another defeat, but I think a step in the right direction, especially defensively.
02:04I know there were the two errors, or at least the two moments that were a little bit poor.
02:09Two crosses, you've got to do better in those situations, but at the end of the day this
02:13is Liverpool. It is Kanate, who is one of the most physical defenders in the league,
02:17beating Tottenham in the air. That doesn't happen every single week, and then a penalty,
02:21well that's a bit inexcusable really from Samedo, or at least that's my perspective,
02:26and that cost Wolves in the end. But if they can just take little things from each and
02:30every performance, there are so many positives from most matches this season, then surely
02:34when the pitch is improved, when they pick up, they'll be on their way. All it takes
02:37I think is a win, maybe two, to get them going, get a bit of momentum, and there are so many
02:42other teams in this division struggling to get wins on the ball too, the Wolves should
02:46be okay. So understandably, a lot of negativity, the first six fixtures have been very tough,
02:51and it should be on the up soon for Wolves, who play Brentford away from home next weekend.