By John Boston
Liverpool boss Arne Slot could not disguise his relief as his side battled to a 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield on Sunday.
Liverpool looked to be cruising to a routine win over relegation-threatened Wolves after Luis Diaz’s chested effort and a trademark Mohamad Salah penalty had given the hosts a 2-0 half-time lead.
But after the Reds had another penalty overturned following a VAR intervention, Vitor Pereira’s side took control of the second half.
Matheus Cunha curled home a fine strike to half the deficit and the visitors had further chances to level the game through Marshall Munetsi and Joao Gomes.
Liverpool held their nerve, however, and saw out the game to banish the demons of Wednesday’s tumultuous Merseyside derby – pulling seven points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table after 25 games.
Liverpool got ‘worse and worse’
Reflecting on the game, Slot admitted it was far from pretty – but three points was all that mattered.
He told the BBC: “It was mentally difficult the second half because we thought we scored the third, then thought we got a penalty, both situations were correctly handled by the referee.
“They got better and better, we got worse and worse. We had to show a different mentality which we did and got it over the line.”
READ MORE: Everton boss reflects on ‘mental’ match; Liverpool skipper laments referee display
Shot-shy Reds
The second half saw Liverpool fail to register a single effort on goal – the first time that has happened at Anfield since Opta records began in the 2003-2004 season – and left-back Andy Robertson couldn’t fail to notice the nervy atmosphere at Anfield.
He added: “Everyone gets nervous. The players get nervous, the crowd gets nervous – that’s only natural. But another game down. This result is big.”
‘Soft’ red card avoided
One key moment of the second half saw half-time substitute Jarell Quansah produce a superb sliding interception to deny Wolves an almost-certain equaliser – but Slot admitted that Quansah was only on the pitch because he feared a ‘soft’ red card for Ibrahima Konaté.
The Frenchman picked up a yellow card for dragging back Cunha and was lucky not to see red just before the break after clashing with the same player.
The Dutchman explained: “I took him off because of that. I saw him getting his first yellow – that for me was a soft yellow. If he got his second one for a shoulder push that would have again been a soft yellow so he would have been sent off for two soft yellows.”
Villa and City up next
A busy week for Liverpool continues on Wednesday with a tricky-looking trip to Aston Villa, before a blockbuster clash with Manchester City at the Etihad on Sunday.
That’s followed by the visit of Newcastle United before a quirk of the fixture list sees Slot’s side play just one league fixture in the whole of March – a home game against rock-bottom Southampton.
READ NEXT: Will JuJu Watkins break the NCAA all-time scoring record?
Ren Azrack Escosio 
Jheruleene Anne Ramos 
Newsjustnews writers