Head injury scare for Wolves keeper
Diogo Jota’s winning return to Wolves was overshadowed by a head injury to goalkeeper Rui Patricio that led to a worrying 14-minute delay at the end of Liverpool’s hardfought victory. Jurgen Klopp later called it “three dirty points” and that summed it up.
Jota scored the only goal but the nature of Patricio’s injury, as the goalkeeper lay prone on the pitch after being knocked out before medics finally carried him off while giving him oxygen, will lead to a debate as to how the offside law is implemented. No fault should be apportioned to the assistant referee who followed the protocols correctly when Mohamed Salah ran through in the 90th minute to find the net – only to be correctly pulled up for offside.
Unfortunately allowing play to go on, as is the rule, also meant Conor Coady accidentally collided with Patricio, catching him full in the face with his knee as the defender sprinted back to cover.
There have been close calls this season with similar incidents, and it feels the law is an accident waiting to happen. Earlier this season striker Raul Jimenez suffered a fractured skull in a clash of heads with David Luiz at Arsenal in November and is yet to return.
Unfortunately for Patricio it was Wolves who suffered again. Why risk injuries with such a frustrating application of the law?
Fortunately Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo could offer an encouraging update on Patricio, who was later seen walking into the dressing room.
“He’s OK,” Nuno said. “It was a collision with the knee of Coady on the head. All situations when it is the head get us worried.
“He is going to recover. The following hours are important; he is with the doctors and has to be assessed.”
Klopp spoke for most onlookers when he added: “I have spoken to the Wolves staff, they are rather positive. It was a proper shock. In these moments everything loses importance immediately.” Until then the headlines belonged to Jota, sold by Wolves for up to £45 million in September. Having recovered from a knee injury, he returned to score his first goal since November.
There was no celebration from him against the club he represented for three years, but Liverpool will be punching the air the attacker is back and is forming a new triumvirate with Salah and Sadio Mane in the absence of Roberto Firmino.
“He’s just a class player,” Klopp said. “He’s been out for three months, and has come back and made an immediate impact. That is pretty rare.”
Liverpool are up to sixth, overtaking Tottenham Hotspur and Everton, and more importantly, just five points behind fourth-placed Chelsea. They are firmly – and maybe unexpectedly – back in the chase for a Champions League place.
For Wolves, this was the kind of impressive performance that made a mockery of the fact they are down in 13th as they took the contest to Liverpool from the start.
Adama Traore and Pedro Neto were a threat throughout. It was Patricio, though, who was involved in almost all the major incidents. The Portugal international could have conceded a penalty in the first half after he appeared to catch Mane, only for the forward to stay on his feet in an attempt to get his shot away, and he was probably at fault when he was beaten on halftime by Jota. Wolves lost possession and Mane and Salah combined for the former to pick out Jota, whose first-time shot from the edge of penalty area was crisp enough. But having got a hand to it, Patricio would have expected to keep the ball out.
Wolves could argue they should have had a penalty in the first minute when Alisson fumbled Traore’s cross and then clattered into Nelson Semedo. Alisson then did better to hold onto Semedo’s shot although, in truth, the wing-back should have scored.
As should Ruben Neves before Jota’s goal, when Jonny’s cross ran all the way through to him. Unmarked, the midfielder took his time, but drove the ball wastefully wide. Seconds later, with Mane having headed narrowly wide, Liverpool took the lead.
It was unusual, though, to see the champions pushed back quite so much in a second half dominated by Wolves. Klopp will have been encouraged by how his defenders, led by Andrew Robertson, rallied and his young central defensive partnership of Nathaniel Phillips and Ozan Kabak got their heads and bodies in the way of unrelenting pressure. But the delay for Patricio’s injury stalled the momentum, with Liverpool seeing out the win.
“It’s all about the result. A big fight,” Klopp later said. “If we want three dirty points, I’m fine with that.” As he should be.
Wolverhampton Wanderers (3-4-3): Patricio 5 (Ruddy 90+11); Boly 6, Coady 7, Saiss 6; Semedo 6 (Gibbs-white 84), Neves 6 (Dendoncker 76), Moutinho 7, Jonny 6; Neto 7, Jose 5 (Silva 70), Traore 7. Subs Hoever, Vitinha, Kilman, Marques. Booked Neves, Saiss.
Liverpool (4-3-3) Alisson 6; Robertson 8, Kabak 7, Phillips 6, Alexander-arnold 7; Wijnaldum 7 (Milner 67), Fabinho 7, Thiago 6 (Keita 67); Mane 7, Jota 7 (Oxlade-chamberlain 82), Salah 7. Subs Adrian (g), Jones, Tsimikas, Shaqiri, R Williams, N Williams. Booked Thiago.
Referee Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire).