Familiar face: Steven Gerrard was on punditry duty for Wolves vs Liverpool
Brazilian midfielder Andre - with the help of a sizable deflection off Joe Gomez - popped up with a dramatic stoppage-time winner at Molineux on Tuesday night as the Reds were on the receiving end of a hugely damaging loss against the Premier League’s bottom club.
Rodrigo Gomes had earlier sparked a thrilling finish to a previously dour game by lofting the ball over Alisson to score the opener against the run of play, with Mohamed Salah quickly equalising for Liverpool with his first league goal since November 1 before Andre’s decisive first of the season.
Liverpool appeared to feel that Virgil van Dijk had been fouled in the build-up to Wolves’ first goal, with their captain losing out to substitute Tolu Arokodare, who took down a long ball and then promptly sent Rodrigo Gomes through to take on Ibrahima Konate and score past Alisson.
However, Van Dijk did not complain about the incident in a post-match broadcast interview in which he delivered a scathing assessment of Liverpool’s display - his overall views echoed by Gerrard, who did not believe there was anything wrong with Arokodare’s challenge.
“I personally don’t think it’s a foul,” the Reds icon said on TNT Sports. “I think he’s [Van Dijk] got to be a lot stronger in that situation. I also think that Konate could have bailed him out of trouble.
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“You are clutching at straws asking for a foul there. You are up against a big strong sub who has come off the bench. He’s the focal point, you know he’s going to be physical and try to dominate you from a physical perspective. You’ve got to be ready for that.
"You've got to stand up and be stronger. I think he'll be slightly disappointed in himself when he watches that back.”
On Van Dijk calling Liverpool’s performance at Wolves “slow, predictable and sloppy”, Gerrard said: "He’s right. For 65 minutes, Liverpool were desperate tonight and really poor.
“They didn't create enough, they didn't play at the right speed or the right tempo. They didn't have enough quality.”