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‘It was the reaction we needed’: Jurgen Klopp hails Liverpool’s response to Brighton’s defeat in their win over Wolves after he made EIGHT substitutions… while hailing Harvey Elliott’s ‘exceptional’ winner at Molineux
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has praised his team’s comeback powers after they beat Wolves in the FA Cup.
First half stunner Harvey Elliott booked a fourth round trip to Brighton as the champions kept their defense alive with a 1-0 win.
The Reds were crushed 3-0 at the Amex in the Premier League on Saturday, with Klopp calling it the worst performance of his managerial career, but believes his team responded at Molineux.
Jurgen Klopp praised Liverpool’s resilience in their 1-0 win over Wolves at Molineux
“Everyone had that reaction, it was the reaction we needed to show,” he said after the third round replay. ‘The game was completely different from last time. I’m very happy with that. All individual performances were good.
‘It was good and I told the guys after the game how it feels when you play well and win. So we are quite happy.
“It was a good game, we only went to the next round but we wanted to go to the next round, it was an important sign that these things are possible.”
‘There’s a big game at the weekend (against Chelsea), if we had played another game like the last one, I’m not sure what people would have thought before arriving at the stadium.
Reds boss Klopp said it was the “reaction we needed” after Saturday’s dismal loss to Brighton
‘We were compact, together and we had good challenges. We played very good football and scored an exceptional goal. Harvey saw something that not many people have seen. He wouldn’t have expected a shot at that moment.
After a brief headlight failure in the opening seconds, Liverpool settled and Elliott won after 13 minutes.
Rayan Ait-Nouri’s shot had been blocked and the visitors moved quickly up the pitch, with Thiago Alcantara finding Elliott inside his own half.
The England Under-21 star ran unopposed before catching José Sa out of position and beating the keeper from 25 yards out.
Klopp also praised Harvey Elliott after the young midfielder scored the only goal of the game.
The Liverpool manager claimed he did not expect the young midfielder to shoot when he scored
Fabio Carvalho had a goal disallowed for offside and Cody Gakpo finished as Liverpool comfortably reached half-time.
Wolves came out of the break revived, with Matheus Nunes and Nelson Semedo as reinforcements from the bench, and threw Liverpool back.
Despite all their efforts, however, Wolves still struggled to create many significant starts – Liverpool’s organization and determination got them the credit – and Adama Traore blasted from 18-yards.
Klopp’s men held their ground and Matheus Cunha volleyed before goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher caught his stoppage-time header to either side of Curtis Jones and moved within second.
Wolves boss, also Julen Lopetegui, has admitted his sadness after seeing his team exit the FA Cup.
“We are sad and frustrated not to continue in the Cup. Looking at the two games (including a 2-2 draw in the opening game) we deserved more, but this is football,” Wolves manager Julen Lopetegui said.
‘In this game it was a shame because we suffered a strange goal in the first half. We started well, after the goal we suffered emotionally, and we were out of the game until the break.
He was not happy and we changed some things. Unfortunately for us we didn’t score. We had a great ambition to continue in the Cup and now we have to focus 100% on the Premier League.
I hate losing and we lost so I’m sad. It is not positive to be out of the Cup, ever.