Sharpen Cage Record, Liverpool Gasak Wolverhampton 4-0

Georginio Wijnaldum (center) fires a shot to score his team's second goal against Wolverhampton (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Liverpool have sharpened their home match record which has now become without defeat for 65 consecutive matches in the Premier League by beating Wolverhampton 4-0 at Anfield Stadium on Sunday local time.

The record is even more special because The Kop stands again filled with around 2,000 supporters in accordance with the new permit from the British government for sports matches in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wolverhampton skipper who graduated from Liverpool academy, Conor Coady, made a blunder in the 24th minute when he failed to catch Jordan Henderson's pass and the ball fell to Mohamed Salah who scored to put the hosts in front.

Coady almost paid for his mistake when he won the prize for a penalty which was preceded by a corner two minutes from halftime.

Referee Craig Pawson, however, overturned the decision after reviewing VAR replays and ensuring Coady flopped without a knock from Sadio Mane who tried to clear the ball acrobatically.

Nuno Espirito Santo's team entered the second half by taking the initiative to attack, but it became a weapon for the masters because in the 58th minute Liverpool actually doubled their lead.

After clearing the ball from a corner, Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson sent in a long pass controlled by Georginio Wijnaldum before calmly curling a shot into the top right corner of the net.

The goal was greeted by Nuno Santo by sending young talent Fabio Silva who replaced Ruben Neves to patch up the toothless Wolverhampton front line after being left by Raul Jimenez who was smothered with a serious skull fracture injury.

However, what happened then was that Liverpool added a 3-0 lead after a short corner from Henderson was followed by Salah into a mature cross that Joel Matip headed in front of the goal in the 67th minute.

One minute later, Trent Alexander-Arnold, who had missed four games, returned to play for Neco Williams and Liverpool's mainstay right-back recently played a major role in the hosts' fourth goal.

In the 78th minute, Alexander-Arnold gets free space on the right and sends a fine cross at Mane, but the ball that Nelson Semedo tries to stop ends up being an own goal to increase Liverpool's lead to 4-0.

The 4-0 score lasted until dispersal, marking the success of young goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher in paying off Juergen Klopp's trust to guard the Liverpool goal with a record that did not concede.

Unfortunately, former Wolverhampton striker Diogo Jota failed to continue his fertile trend at Anfield because he only started playing since the 73rd minute to replace Roberto Firmino.

The result made Liverpool move back up to second place in the standings to stick closely to Tottenham Hotspur, who both collect 24 points but have an advantage on goal difference.

Meanwhile, Wolverhampton (17) was stuck in 10th place after being overtaken by several teams due to the results of other matches that took place earlier, Antara noted on the official Premier League website.

Wolverhampton play early for the 12th round tie on Saturday, December 12 next week at home to Aston Villa at Molineux, while Liverpool make an appearance a day later at Fulham headquarters.

However, Liverpool will have their final Champions League Group D match which they have won by flying to Denmark to face Midtjylland.