Salah sends Liverpool top after win at Wolves
Liverpool moved to the top of the Premier League table as Mohamed Salah's penalty handed it a 2-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.
Manchester City's 1-1 draw at Newcastle United earlier in the day handed Arne Slot's Reds a chance to go top, and Salah hit the winner from the spot after Nelson Semedo fouled former Wolves man Diogo Jota.
Ibrahima Konate had nodded Liverpool into the lead before his mistake at the other end allowed Rayan Ait-Nouri to briefly draw Wolves level early in the second half.
Wolves never looked likely to equalise for a second time as their wait for a first win of the season continued, with Liverpool going close to a third goal on a couple of occasions late on.
Wolves kept Liverpool quiet throughout the first half only to see their resolve broken in stoppage-time, Sam Johnstone failing to keep out Konate's header after Jota crossed from the left.
Konate went from Liverpool hero to villain as Wolves levelled soon after the restart, though.
A mix-up between him and Alisson allowed Jorgen Strand Larsen to steal possession, with his cutback eventually turned home by Ait-Nouri.
But within three minutes of the equaliser, Semedo pulled Jota back to concede a penalty, which Salah confidently dispatched for the winner, with Wolves wilting from then on.
While the result took Liverpool one point clear of City and Arsenal at the summit, Wolves remain rooted to the bottom with just one point from six matches.
Slot believes it is too early to speak of his Liverpool side as a title contender, though, despite now leading the pack.
“It feels good, you want to be up there but it doesn’t tell me that much at the moment," the Dutchman said.
"If you look at Wolves they are down in the table but they played much better than that today. After 19 games, it’ll tell me something, but not after six."
Slot praised his opposite number Gary O’Neil for causing his side some problems early on, but once tactical adjustments were made, the Dutchman was pleased with the amount of control his side exerted.
"I don't think we started well, but we have to give credit to Wolves and Gary O'Neil," Slot said.
"They had a really good gameplan. We had some problems in the first 20 minutes, but afterwards we took control of the game.
"We were patient and kept circulating the ball and kept waiting for the right moment to bring the ball in."
O’Neil was still proud of his players after defeat and is adamant his side has deserved more points from its opening matches than the table suggests.
"They went toe-to-toe with one of the biggest clubs in the country,” O’Neil said.
“I am gutted for the lads, with what they have given in the last six games, they deserve more points.
"The responsibility of the result. I accept that, but I also need to praise the lads for delivering performances against opposition like this.
"I know them well enough that they will feel disappointed for a day, then they will be ready to go again."
