Wolverhampton Wanderers forced an FA Cup third round replay against holders Liverpool courtesy of a 2-2 draw at Anfield this evening.
An event-filled contest saw both sides come from behind and Wolves denied a late winner by a contentious offside decision as they were forced to settle for a share of the spoils and a second meeting at Molineux.
The visitors were gifted their opening goal when Alisson Becker's howler allowed Goncalo Guedes to slot into an empty net, but Liverpool levelled things up through Darwin Nunez on the stroke of half time.
Jurgen Klopp's side then went ahead seven minutes after the restart, profiting from Toti's failed interception which not only took the ball into the path Mohamed Salah to finish, but also meant that the Liverpool forward was deemed onside despite being off when the initial pass was played.
Two inspired changes from Julen Lopetegui drew Wolves back level as Hwang Hee-chan and Matheus Cunha combined three minutes after coming on for the former to restore parity.
Wolves then thought that they had won it when Toti flicked the ball in after a brief scramble inside the box, but the linesman's flag was up for offside and, after a lengthy VAR check, the decision was upheld as Liverpool again benefitted from the minutiae of the offside law.
The two sides will now face off again at Molineux in their replay for a place in the fourth round.
HIGHLIGHTS
4th min: Liverpool win an early free kick in a good position and Mohamed Salah fires it towards goal, but it is narrowly too high of the Wolves crossbar.
26th min: GOAL! LIVERPOOL 0-1 WOLVES It is an absolute howler from Alisson Becker as he gives the ball straight to Goncalo Guedes when trying to play out from the back. Guedes controls it with his first touch, before slotting home a simple finish. Dreadful from Alisson!
An absolute howler from Alisson! 😳
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) January 7, 2023
The Liverpool goalkeeper has gifted Wolves the lead!@EmiratesFACup | #ITVFootball pic.twitter.com/WHq0jtWDLY
36th min: Adama Traore wins the ball off Jordan Henderson in the middle of the park and it bounces to Guedes who, full of confidence, lets fly from range. The ball is moving, but Alisson pushes it away.
39th min: Traore finds a bit of space down the right channel and drills a low cross-shot across face of goal which fizzes wide of the far post and just too far in front of Raul Jimenez sliding in.
45th min: GOAL! LIVERPOOL 1-1 WOLVES Brilliant equaliser from Liverpool as Trent Alexander-Arnold clips a beauty of a cross from deep into the box, and Darwin Nunez does not even need to break his stride before cushioning a first-time left-footed volley into the far corner.
TAA 🤝 Darwin Nunez
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) January 7, 2023
WHAT A PASS AND WHAT A FINISH!@EmiratesFACup | #ITVFootball pic.twitter.com/iOfpcTj0uf
52nd min: GOAL! LIVERPOOL 2-1 WOLVES Liverpool go in front for the first time as Salah brings the ball down inside the box, and then still has the time and space to swivel and fire his finish past the keeper. Toti should have done better having got to the initial pass into the box, but only succeeded in sending a looping header to the unmarked Salah in the box. Salah was offside when the initial pass was played, but because Toti got the intentional touch on it, he became onside again.
Mo Salah puts Liverpool in front!
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) January 7, 2023
Cody Gakpo's cross came off the head of Toti and found the Egyptian with loads of time to finish 👏@EmiratesFACup | #ITVFootball pic.twitter.com/TJg1A1kLSi
56th min: Nunez makes a dart to the near post to meet a corner, but slightly overruns it and gets too much on his header to send it off target.
56th min: Seconds later at the other end Rayan Ait-Nouri is released through on goal by Ruben Neves, but the Wolves full-back is thwarted by Alisson as the Liverpool keeper redeems himself. Ait-Nouri should have done better in truth, but it was still a big save from Alisson.
66th min: GOAL! LIVERPOOL 2-2 WOLVES The substitutes make an immediate difference as Wolves level things up! Just three minutes after both players came on, Hwang Hee-chan exchanges passes with Matheus Cunha before bundling the ball home from close range. There is an element of luck about it as the ball bounced off Hwang, then Ibrahima Konate and then seemingly off Hwang again, eventually squirming beyond Alisson.
Hwang Hee-chan!!!
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) January 7, 2023
The Wolves substitutes combine to level things up 🤩@EmiratesFACup | #ITVFootball pic.twitter.com/QMOd9YLN16
81st min: Wolves think they have won it as Liverpool fail to clear their lines from a corner and a scramble eventually ends with Toti flicking the ball home from inside the box. Wolves players pile on in the corner, not realising for a long time that the linesman has his flag up. A long VAR check then takes place, but the offside decision stands!
Wolves thought they had a winner but a VAR check eventually confirmed it to be offside❌
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) January 7, 2023
You've got to feel for Toti here 😕@EmiratesFACup | #ITVFootball pic.twitter.com/uhXs3qkXH4
88th min: A late sight of goal for Ben Doak as he collects Harvey Elliott's pass on the edge of the box and gets a shot away with the outside of his boot, but it flies high and wide.
MAN OF THE MATCH - TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD
© Reuters
This is a difficult award to give out as no single player stood out above the rest in this match; Nathan Collins deserves a mention for Wolves, but their most eye-catching players were arguably some of those who came off the bench.
In the end, we have settled on Trent Alexander-Arnold, who provided the biggest moment of quality in the game with his stunning assist for Liverpool's equaliser at the end of the first half.
The full-back also made a couple of important defensive interceptions and, while it was not his greatest game by any stretch of the imagination, he did enough to stand out most in a game with few obvious candidates for this award.
STANDOUT MOMENT
© Reuters
Alisson will not want to see his howler for the opening goal again, and no-one would have been more relieved when Darwin Nunez tucked home a beauty of an equaliser just before half time.
The Uruguayan's finishing has come under much scrutiny during his short Liverpool career so far, even if his goalscoring record is not particularly bad, but he stroked this one home as if he was in flying scoring form.
While the finish was exquisite, the assist was perhaps even better, with Alexander-Arnold's cross from deep being so inch-perfect that Nunez did not even have to break his stride to steer it into the bottom corner.
BEST STAT
Liverpool remain without an FA Cup victory over Wolves since February 1952, a run which stretches back more than 70 years.
MATCH STATS
Possession: Liverpool 64%-36% Wolves
Shots: Liverpool 10-11 Wolves
Shots on target: Liverpool 3-5 Wolves
Corners: Liverpool 5-3 Wolves
Fouls: Liverpool 9-6 Wolves
LINEUPS
LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Alisson; Alexander-Arnold (Gomez 85'), Matip, Konate, Robertson; Henderson (Keita 68'), Fabinho (Elliott 75'), Thiago; Salah (Oxlade-Chamberlain 84'), Nunez, Gakpo (Doak 84')
WOLVES (4-4-2): Sarkic; Lembikisa (Semedo 69'), Collins, Toti, Jonny; Traore, Neves (Cunha 63'), Hodge, Ait-Nouri (Bueno 73'); Jimenez (Matheus 63'), Guedes (Hwang 63')
Barney Corkhill
