Liverpool manager Arne Slot expressed his delight at the mental resilience shown by his team during Sunday’s hard-fought 2-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield, hailing the win as an important moment in their campaign.
A first-half strike from Luis Díaz, followed by a clinical penalty from Mohamed Salah, proved decisive as Liverpool secured a 2-1 victory, reinstating their seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League table.
Liverpool faced a tense conclusion to the match as Matheus Cunha’s brilliant long-range strike midway through the second half brought Wolves back into the game, but the Reds stood strong to clinch a hard-fought win.
Arne Slot shared his thoughts after the game. Speaking about the win for his side, he said:
“Yeah, clearly it was relief at the end, especially after what happened on Wednesday. Those last eight minutes, and especially the last minute where we conceded a goal, you are so frustrated because you know that moment can also have [an] impact for the next game or for the next games that are coming up. And I think you saw today after us conceding the 2-1 that maybe for the first time this season we were a bit, ‘Ooh…’ after conceding in the last minute against Everton. I think that was in our heads a bit and that’s also why we, as a team, were so furious on Wednesday.”
On the tense finish
“I don’t think the nerves were too much, I think it also had to do with how Wolves came out. On Wednesday, we showed immense mentality in the most difficult circumstances we faced this season and then going 2-1 up and then playing the last 15, 20 minutes the way we played with all the things that happened in those 15 to 20 minutes, and to come out with a draw, that was very, very, very hard to take”.
“And then today, 2-0 up, we had to deal with thinking we scored the 3-0 – completely the correct decision that he disallowed it for offside. Thinking we were going to score the 3-0 with a penalty [for] Mo, again, in my opinion, the correct decision for the VAR to turn that decision over. And then immediately receiving the 2-1, that is mentally not always easy – and that’s why these wins are probably even more important than when we outplay Tottenham like we did here two weeks ago with 4-0.”
“It’s difficult to win a game of football. People always feel like, ‘You’ve got Mo Salah, what are you talking about? He will always score for you a goal.’ No, no, no. It’s so difficult to win a game of football every three days after everything you go through in a season, so that’s why this win is an important one going into a very tough week, where we hope we can show the same mentality again [against] both teams but play a bit better on the ball.”
