It didn’t feel like bottom versus top as Wolves lost to Liverpool. There wasn’t a huge difference between the teams, but unsurprisingly those now sitting at the top had the greater quality in the crucial moments, as Liverpool showed they could win without playing well, a trait , which every team fighting for the title needs.

Rayan Aït-Nouri canceled out Ibrahima Konaté’s opener, only for Liverpool to convert a penalty immediately after the equaliser. Mohamed Salah scored his fifth goal of the season with a penalty and secured the points, even if his team did not reach the level Arne Slot expected.

Gary O’Neil worked hard to sign Sam Johnstone in the summer as he felt the need to improve José Sá. As a goalkeeper, Johnstone has proven his quality at a number of Premier League clubs over the years, but at Wolves he is forced to play from the back and his footwork doesn’t match his glovework. Poor passing and delays in decision-making put his team under pressure and he was lucky not to be punished by Liverpool a few times early on.

Wolves started promisingly, retaining possession without creating a dangerous opening, while Alisson enjoyed an adjustment period after returning from a hamstring injury. In central midfield, the trio of João Gomes, Mario Lemina and André work hard, but will hardly find a chance with a clever pass. However, they managed to keep Liverpool’s triumvirate quiet, forcing them to go wide when attacking. Despite the strange scare, Wolves coped with what Luis Díaz and Salah threw at them as the visitors tried unsuccessfully to quickly turn defense into attack.

Liverpool got off to a slow start by their standards, struggling to find a rhythm and lacking the pace to break through Wolves’ defence. Johnstone’s palms finally hurt after half an hour when Trent Alexander-Arnold fired a free-kick straight at him from 20 yards after André was penalized for a lunge on Alexis Mac Allister. The Brazilian won the ball but referee Anthony Taylor was concerned about the recklessness of the challenge.

Johnstone showed his skills when Dominik Szoboszlai moved away from Toti in the penalty area to meet Andy Robertson’s precise cross from six yards out, putting himself in the perfect position to side-foot the Hungarian’s volley.

However, the goalkeeper was unable to stop Konaté from a similar position in stoppage time in the first half. The centre-back stayed up from a corner and got ahead of Toti to score the opener with Johnstone’s fingertips from Diogo Jota’s cross.

There was a slight farce when Lemina blindly played the ball straight across his own penalty area to Salah. The Egyptian had an open goal, but his right-footed shot went wide. Liverpool should have been out of sight as they had the best three chances of the game and only had one goal to show for it.

They paid for their impudence in the 56th minute when Jørgen Strand Larsen chased down a pass, Robertson tried to clear but the ball bounced off the striker into the box. Konaté had a simple task but failed to force the ball out of play, allowing the Norwegian to win the ball and pass the ball to new substitute Carlos Borges, who miscontrolled the ball, straight to Aït-Nouri, who shot the ball into the goal.

Minutes later, however, Liverpool received another gift when Nélson Semedo was said to have brought down Jota in the penalty area. Salah stepped up and sent Johnstone the wrong way from the penalty spot.

Borges had the chance to equalize when he beat Robertson with a through ball, but then retreated inside and saw his shot blocked by Konaté, making up for his earlier mistake. It brought Wolves down in the final third as they showed promise but lacked the clinical touch needed to make a difference. It doesn’t help that the winless Wolves have the worst defensive record in the league with 16 goals conceded in six games.

It wasn’t pretty for Liverpool, but looking down on everyone else it’s more about enjoying the view than worrying about the aesthetics of the platform.