Liverpool 4-0 Wolves: Reds celebrate fans' Anfield return with emphatic victory
Goals from Mohamed Salah, Georginio Wijnaldum and Joel Matip capped a victorious return to Anfield for Liverpool supporters.
Liverpool celebrated the return of fans to Anfield with a 4-0 victory over Wolves on Sunday.
Sitting three points off the summit of the Premier League following Tottenham's win over Arsenal earlier in the day, the Reds responded by claiming a typically hard-earned victory over Nuno Espirito Santo's side.
Goals from Mohamed Salah, Georginio Wijnaldum and Joel Matip, along with an own goal from Nelson Semedo, ensured they drew level with Spurs on points to move second by virtue of goal difference.
Perhaps buoyed by their returning supporters, Liverpool started the brighter, and went close when Sadio Mane headed over after a slick one-two with Andy Robertson.
But they were quickly reminded of Wolves' threat at the other end as Daniel Podence drew a fingertip save from Caoimhin Kelleher with a wonderfully inventive chip.
Both sides looked relatively comfortable defensively otherwise and, as such, it was no surprise that, when the opening goal came, it was thanks to an error rather than a moment of invention.
Jordan Henderson's ball over the top looked primed for a headed clearance but, in trying to chest it down, Conor Coady simply set up Salah for a left-footed finish into the right-hand corner.
The visiting captain looked to have redeemed himself when he was awarded a penalty on the stroke of half-time, but replays showed he had in fact not been touched by Mane before going down in the box, leading to a VAR turnover.
Despite Liverpool's lead, the second half continued in nip-and-tuck fashion, with both sides fashioning half-chances but remaining wary of committing too much to attack.
However, the game was eventually taken away from Wolves on the hour mark thanks to Wijnaldum who, arriving on the break and using Coady as a shield, curled a beauty into the Kop-end top corner.
Matip quickly followed that with a third, the defender heading in a delicious inswinging Salah cross from the right wing after finding himself at the top end of the pitch for a corner.
And a memorable night for the 2,000 supporters allowed into Anfield was capped with a fourth goal with a quarter of an hour still to go, Semedo inadvertently putting through his own net in attempting to block a Mane effort.