Liverpool and Wolves played out a spirited 2-2 draw on Saturday night at Anfield in the third round of the FA Cup, with the tie going to a replay at Molineux.
Darwin Nunez scored his tenth of the season for the Reds’ first goal – expertly assisted by Trent Alexander-Arnold on his 250th appearance – while left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri ran the show for the visitors. in a lively display.
Liverpool stopper Alisson had a game to forget after an embarrassing mistake in the 26th minute allowed Goncalo Guedes to score for the visitors, and he was at fault for the equaliser. Wolves in a game that saw a late controversial VAR decision.
Alisson’s header allowed Goncalo Guedes to open the scoring for Wolves after 26 minutes
Darwin Nunez equalized for the Reds on the stroke of half-time with a finish to the bottom left
Mohamed Salah gave the hosts the lead after Cody Gakpo’s assist, headed down and finished well inside the box.
Substitutes Matheus Cunha (L) and Hwang Hee-chan combined well to draw the visitors level
Liverpool (4-3-3):
Alisson Becker 5
The Brazil No 1 made an embarrassing mistake to give Wolves the lead and he did not cover himself in glory for the visitors’ second goal but in between made saves from Hernandez from Ait-Nouri .
Trent Alexander-Arnold 7
Celebrated his 250th appearance for Liverpool with a superb pass to set up Nunez for the equalizer – his 62nd assist for the club.
Joe Matip 5
Almost conceded a goal to Guedes when he was too long on the ball and looked shaky at times.
Ibrahima Konate 5
Made a good block to stop Hernandez but wasn’t always convincing, playing in Virgal Van Dijk’s position.
The Brazilian gifted the visitors the opening goal and struggled for Hwang’s second goal
Trent Alexander-Arnold provided a sensational assist in his 250th match for Nunez’s goal
Andy Robertson 6
Stays on his toes with the pace of Traore but links up well with Gakpo and is always ready to push forward.
Jordan Henderson 6
The best of Liverpool’s midfield trio with his usual spirited and selfless performance until replaced by Naby Keita.
Fabinho 5
Another performance underlined the Brazilian was not as dominant as before and he was replaced by Harvey Elliott at the end.
Thiago 5
Nunez moved into double figures for the season
The passing wasn’t as crisp or as sharp as it used to be and the ball was caught on a few occasions but improved in the second half.
Mohamed Salah 7
Took his goal with his usual composure, bringing the ball down before slotting his shot into the corner for his 17th of the season.
Darwin Nunez 7
Moved into double figures for the season with a well taken side foot volley and boosted the second half chance.
Cody Gakpo 6
Matija Sarkic was tested with an early shot, showed some fine touches on debut and supplied the cross that led to Salah’s goal.
Subs: Naby Keita (for Henderson 67) 5, Harvey Elliott (for Fabinho 74) 5, Joe Gomez (for Alexander-Arnold 84, 5), Ben Doak for (Salah, 84) 5, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (For to Gakpo 84) 5 .
Unused subs: Caoimhin Kelleher, Kostas Tsmikas, Fabio Carvalho, Nathaniel Phillips.
Purpose: Nunez 45, Salah 52.
Wolves (4-4-2):
Matija Sarkic 6
Nothing to do about Liverpool’s goals, a couple of early clearance kicks went straight but otherwise fine.
Dexter Lembisika 6
The youngster handled the dual threat of Gakpo and Robertson reasonably well and will be proud of his debut.
Nathan Collins 6
His wild pass led to Liverpool’s equalizer but otherwise produced an excellent defensive display and picked up the man of the match award from ITV.
Toti Gomes 6
His mistake led to Salah’s goal when he headed Gakpo’s cross towards the lurking Salah but was unlucky when the winner was ruled out for offside.
Toti thought he had given the visitors the win late in the game before VAR ruled it out
Jonny Otto 6
Salah is kept quiet and also has a good impact on occasions.
Adama Traore 6
Always a threat with his pace down the right-hand side but, as usual, he was a mess with the last delivery.
Joe Hodge 6
A spirited and determined performance from the Wolves youngster and troubled Thiago at one point in the first half with his persistence.
Ait Nouri 7
Lively display, constantly troubling Liverpool with his incisive runs from midfield.
Rayan Ait-Nouri, 21, starred for his side as they forced a third round replay at Molineux
Ruben Neves 6
Avoided early injury to pull the strings in midfield for Wolves.
Raul Jimenez 6
Constantly caused the home defense problems with his pace and constant running.
Goncalo Guedes 6
Received the ‘gift’ from Alisson to give Wolves the lead after failing to punish Matip for settling on the ball minutes earlier.
Subs: Hwang Hee-chan (for Guedes 62) 7
The South Korean international scored within three minutes of coming off the subs bench
Make an instant impact with the second equalizer.
Matheus Cunha (for Neves 62) 7
Set up Hwang’s goal.
Nelson Semedo (for Lembisika 68) 6.
Unused subs: Jose Sa, Yerson Mosquera, Max Kilman, Connor Ronan, Hugo Beuno Lopez.
The objectives: Guedes 18, Hwang 66.
Referee: Andrew Madeley 7.
