Slot: Late Everton goal Led to 2nd-half Liverpool struggles vs Wolves

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot believes that the residue of late goal from Everton impacted the team’s performance against Wolves. Slot highlighted the late goal in his post-match interview while summarizing the team’s performance against the Wanderers.

Liverpool secured three points by beating Wolves 2-1 but their second-half performance caused a lot of stress and concern among the home fanbase. After taking a two-goal lead in the first half of the game, the Reds started the second half very poorly.

Wolves took control and forced errors from the home team, scoring their only goal in the 67^th minute. They continued to pressurize the Reds, who failed to register a single legitimate shot in the second half.

At first glance, many believed that the combination of fatigue and the stressful atmosphere created the struggle for the players. However, Slot believes there is more to the struggling second half than meets the eye.

Speaking in his post-match press conference (via Liverpoolfc.com), Slot highlighted the way they conceded the late goal against Everton playing a detrimental role in the team’s second-half performance. 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.”

Everton scored an equaliser two minutes after the decided extra time from referee Michael Oliver. The goal also involved a clear foul on Ibrahima Konate along with a potential offside for which the VAR drew a controversial line.

Oliver has played a deciding factor in many Premier League title races that went against the Reds in recent years. The poor relationship between the club and the Premier League referee reached a boiling point against Everton.

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Nevertheless, the focus should remain on what is ahead instead of what happened before. At the same time, the refereeing situation is a good reminder that Liverpool have to take every game seriously to avoid extraneous factors hurting their chances. The Reds will play Aston Villa in the away Premier League clash next with the hopes of maintaining the seven-point lead over Arsenal.