The Sunday Times April 3, 2022 5Finally Kucka’s defending was a lit-
tle too robust as he dragged Jota to the
ground from a corner, an offence
which that everybody in the stadium
but was picked up by the VAR. After
going to the monitor, referee Stuart
Attwell awarded a penalty that Fab-
inho thumped past Foster to give Liv-
erpool breathing space.
The Watford manager Roy Hodg-
son complained bitterly about the
penalty, saying that type of incident
happened all the time, but he was
more sanguine about the first goal and
what it said about the two sides.
“If we needed to get a result up here
we needed one of those two very good
chances to go in,” said Hodgson. “You
have to fight so hard for those chan-
ces. That is why they are top of the
league.”
Curtis Jones is an injury doubt for
Tuesday night, having come off early
and had his ankle strapped, while cen-
tre half Joel Matip was sporting a golf
ball-sized lump on his head after an
accidental clash with Hernandez.
“Today we were good enough to
win the game and that must be some-
times just enough,” said Klopp. “I
didn’t expect us to be flying.”
Ten league wins in a row for Liver-
pool have put the pressure on Man-
chester City in the build-up to the
game at the Etihad next weekend. Liv-
erpool were 14 points behind the
league leaders at the beginning of the
year and now the gap is one.
“We have had no chance to influ-
ence City’s game since then,” Klopp
said. They will on Sunday.Pedro, but he sidefooted the ball just
wide.
Fabinho came on to steady things
for Liverpool, but still the cushion of a
second goal eluded them. Jota twice
misdirected headers wide, Robertson
was foiled by another good save from
Foster and Mane, on for Salah, fluffed
a chance from a cross in the 78th min-
ute.
Anfield grew increasingly nervous
at the inability of Liverpool to put
their struggling opponents away.Watford kept their shape and kept
plugging away, but they were occa-
sionally left chasing shadows when
Liverpool moved through the gears.
Jota almost had a second shortly
before half time, but his shot across
the goal was stopped by a strong arm
from Foster.
Some excellent defending by
Moussa Sissoko and Cucho Hernan-
dez, who took a heavy knock on his
head when clearing the danger from a
corner, meant that Watford went into
the break still with plenty to play for.
Two minutes into the second half
Gomez produced an almost identical
cross, this time bravely defended by
Christian Kabasele, who headed over
the bar when the slightest misjudg-
ment could have meant an own goal.
Watford continued to pose a threat
of their own and should have equal-
ised in the 59th minute with an excel-
lent move down the left, involving
Cucho Hernandez and Ismaila Sarr,
carved open a great chance for JoaoTHE GAFFER TAPES
WHAT THE
MANAGERS SAIDJÜRGEN KLOPP
We didn’t play
the best football
possible today but
it was enough, I was
really happy we
came through. I didn’t expect we
would be flying. It is unlikely after
the international break it will be
the best game of the season. To
keep in the title race we have to
win our football games, it will be
really tricky. The next Premier
League game [against
Manchester City] is a big one,
we can’t hide from that.ROY HODGSON
VAR has done a lot
of very good things
since it has been
introduced in
English football,
this year better than last year, but
I still find it hard to see a situation
where literally no one sees the
incident. Not one Liverpool
player complained about being
fouled [Juraj Kucka’s challenge
on Diogo Jota] — but the game is
stopped in the 88th minute and
they are given the chance to
make it 2-0, and that leaves an
unpleasant taste in the mouth.RACE FOR THE TITLE
MANCHESTER CITY P30 PTS 73
Apr 10Liverpool (h)
Apr 20Brighton (h)
Apr 23Watford (h)
Apr 30Leeds Utd (a)
May 7Newcastle (h)
May 15West Ham (a)
May 22Aston Villa (h)
TBAWolves (h)LIVERPOOL P30 PTS 72
Apr 10Man City (a)
Apr 19Man Utd (h)
Apr 24Everton (h)
Apr 30Newcastle (a)
May 7Tottenham (h)
May 15Southampton (a)
May 22Wolves (h)
TBAAston Villa (a)Wolves won their
third home game
from the last fivewas too little, too late. It was a game
we never turned up for from the
first whistle.
“We were playing against a local
rival, and we tried to prepare to give
it a real derby feel, but you can’t get
to half-time in a derby having been
second best for the first 45 minutes.
We gifted Wolves two goals.”
Jonny gave Wolves a seventh-
minute lead with the first attack.
McGinn was first to fall, allowing
Moutinho to slot in Podence.
Like a bowling pin, Konsa then
became the second Villa player to
lose his footing, allowing Podence to
cut inside, and although McGinn
blocked his shot and Fábio Silva’s
follow-up was cut out by Lucas Digne,
Jonny thumped home the loose ball.
Villa twice went close from
distance before conceding in the 36th
minute, Jose Sá making a splendid tip
over from Leon Bailey’s dipping shot.
Wolves punished them by doubling
their lead.
Marcal crossed and Young, the
substitute who replaced Digne after
only 13 minutes after the left back had
a stomach problem, headed high past
Emiliano Martínez.
Watkins should have reduced the
arrears when he got behind the
defence to latch on to Young’s
through ball, but with only Sá to beat,
he side-footed inches wide.
Wolves continued to look a threat
on the break, and Hwang Hee-chan,
the substitute, saw his shot drift just
wide. Little had been seen of Philippe
Coutinho, but Sá had to be alert to tip
his rising, angled shot out.
Emiliano Buendía looked livelier
than Coutinho, whom he replaced,
and supplied the pass as Villa were
awarded what looked like anextremely controversial penalty in
the 86th minute.
Watkins appeared to run into Sá as
the goalkeeper was poised to collect a
loose ball but the referee, Darren
England, made what appeared to
be a bizarre decision.
Watkins rolled the
spot kick to Sá’s left to
hand Villa a lifeline.
But despite Villa
laying siege to
Wolves’ penalty area
in the closing
minutes, Bruno
Lage’s side held
on to return to
winning ways.Lage said: “The first half we
dominated and should have scored
more goals, but that is the worry,
because if you give a chance to the
opponent they have the ability to
score goals and win.
“So I’m happy because we won
and played the way we want to play
and the game plan was perfect for
this game.”Star man Daniel Podence (Wolves).
Wolves (3-4-3): J Sá 8 – M Kilman 7,
C Coady 7, W Boly 7 – Jonny 8,
L Dendoncker 7, J Moutinho 8, F Marçal 6 –
F Trincão 7 (P Neto 74min), D Podence 8
(Hwang Hee-Chan 68, 6), F Silva 7
(Chiquinho 90+1).
Booked Coady, Marcal, Neto, Jonny.
Aston Villa (4-3-3): E Martínez 6 – M Cash
6, E Konsa 6, T Mings 5, L Digne 6 (A Young
13, 6) – J McGinn 6, M Sanson 5 (Douglas
Luiz 72 6), J Ramsey 6 – L Bailey 6, P
Coutinho 5 (E Buendía 73), O Watkins 7.
Booked McGinn, Young, Konsa.
Referee D England.HOME COMFORT
Wolves' win was only the
third for the home side in
14 Premier League games
between the clubsHome
winsDraws Away
wins3
4
Results by 7
home/awayPREMIER LEAGUE
P W D L F A Pts
Man City 30 23 4 3 70 18 73
Liverpool 30 22 6 2 77 20 72
Chelsea 29 17 8 4 58 23 59
Arsenal 28 17 3 8 44 31 54
Tottenham 29 16 3 10 47 36 51
Man Utd 30 14 9 7 49 41 51
Wolves 31 15 4 12 33 27 49
West Ham 30 14 6 10 49 39 48
Leicester 28 10 7 11 43 47 37
Aston Villa 30 11 3 16 42 42 36
Southampton 30 8 12 10 37 46 36
Crystal Palace 29 7 13 9 39 38 34
Brighton 30 7 1310 26 36 34
Brentford 31 9 6 16 37 48 33
Newcastle 29 7 1012 32 49 31
Leeds 31 7 9 15 35 68 30
Everton 27 7 4 16 29 47 25
Watford 30 6 4 20 29 57 22
Burnley 28 3 12 13 22 40 21
Norwich 30 4 6 20 18 63 18ANDREW YATES/EPA