Match statistics: Wolves 0-1 Liverpool
It had to be him, didn’t it?
Diogo Jota is back, and Liverpool look all the better for it.
The Portugal star returned to haunt Wolves on Monday night, keeping alive his current club’s Champions League hopes in the process.
Jota’s goal, squeezed home in first-half stoppage time, gave the Reds’ ailing Premier League campaign a much-needed boost.
Victory at Molineux, only the fourth they have managed in their last 15 league matches, lifts them to sixth in the table, above Everton and Tottenham, and within five points of fourth-placed Chelsea.
They may not be flying, but they are certainly fighting still. It has been a good few days for Jurgen Klopp’s side, who followed up their Champions League win over RB Leipzig with another valuable success here.
A hint of a momentum, in a campaign which has stalled since the Christmas decorations went up.
As for Jota, he seems to have picked up where he left off when struck down by a knee injury in December. That is 10 goals for the season now for the 24-year-old, whose impact since his summer move has been impressive, to say the least.
His goal here was a moment of quality in a game which had precious little, in all honesty. A classic this most certainly was not. Pandemic football, you could call it. The Premier League is full of that at the moment.
Liverpool had spluttered their way through much of the opening 45 minutes, but they exploded into life in first-half stoppage time.
Just as against Leipzig on Wednesday, it was their front three which picked the lock, Mo Salah feeding Sadio Mane, who moved the ball swiftly to Jota inside the box. Jota steadied himself and, with Romain Saiss closing in, fired low and hard inside Rui Patricio’s near post for 1-0.
It was the first goal Liverpool had scored in the first half of a league game since the win at Tottenham on January 28, and they would not relinquish the advantage it gave them.
In fact, had Patricio not saved well from Salah, or had the Egypt international not gone a little too early when finishing substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s pass, the Reds’ margin may have been even greater.
At the other end, Klopp’s side held firm, with the fledgling partnership of Nat Phillips and Ozan Kabak recording a second successive clean sheet.
Andy Robertson did well against the considerable threat of Adama Traore while Trent Alexander-Arnold’s defensive work, particularly at the far post against crosses, was equally impressive.
It was Jota who gave them their cutting edge, though. Starting centrally, but willing to drift wide or drop deep, he linked well and created space. His pressing kept Wolves’ back three honest, and he earned the backslap he received from his manager when substituted 10 minutes from time.
Liverpool have certainly missed him, and he certainly looks more in tune with this team’s requirements than Roberto Firmino has of late.
The Brazil forward was again absent with a knee issue here, but he faces a battle to regain his starting spot even when he is fit.
There is a new kid in town, and he already looks pretty good in red.
