Elliott fires Liverpool into the FA Cup fourth round

Harvey Elliott’s long-range strike fired Liverpool into the fourth-round of the FA Cup as Jurgen Klopp’s side beat Wolves 1-0 at Molineux.

Liverpool bounced back from their defeat at the weekend in good style thanks to Elliott’s goal where he carried the ball from the half-way line before finding the back of the net.

The third-round replay saw Jurgen Klopp make eight changes to his Liverpool side that lost 3-0 to Brighton in the Premier League. Klopp labelled the previous fixture the worst performance he’s experienced in his career and the Reds were eager to rebound from this.

The game began rather bizarrely with a powercut within the first 15 seconds of play as Wolves attacked down the right-side with Adama Traoré.

Play resumed however unlike the radio broadcasts for the meantime as José Sá was tested nearly spilling the ball early on before Cody Gakpo had a shot from just outside the area with Liverpool starting brightly.

Aït-Nouri forced a block in the box from Liverpool before the Reds went up the other end and scored.

Harvey Elliott then scored, charging from the half-way line before hitting it with his left-foot past Sá in goal who wasn’t very well positioned.

It sparked jubilant scenes for the traveling away fans with the Reds taking a much deserved lead.

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Kostas Tsimikas fired just over the bar from the left-side of the box in the 16th minute before tensions arose on the sidelines between Jurgen Klopp and Julen Lopetegui.

Wolves began to grow into the game enjoying the majority of possession approaching the half-hour mark.

Cody Gakpo looked to test Sá from the right-side of the box with a powerful shot going just over the bar in the 31st minute before Fabio Carvalho thought he had made it 2-0.

The winger found the back of the net yet was ruled offside much to the home side’s delight.

Adama Traoré had a chance to make it 1-1 for Wolves yet squandered the opportunity, firing wide from the right-side of the box after making one of his usual blistering runs down the wing.

Liverpool took the 1-0 lead into half-time thanks to Elliott’s goal, with the Reds showing a vast improvement to their performance at Brighton. Wolves ended the half without a shot on target and Julen Lopetegui will have most certainly be keen for this to change in the second half.

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Wolves introduced Nélson Semedo and Matheus Nunes for the second-half replacing Joe Hodge and Dexter Lembikisa.

The hosts wanted a penalty for a handball on Naby Keïta, but it clearly hit the midfielder’s shoulder before Adama blazed high over the bar from the edge of the box on the hour mark.

Matheus Cunha and Daniel Podence replaced João Moutinho and Jonny for Wolves before Liverpool introduced Mo Salah, Curtis Jones and Nat Phillips for Cody Gakpo, Fabio Carvalho and James Milner.

Wolves started to come alive as they pressed for a leveller. Skipper Ruben Neves delivered a delightful raking pass that found Matheus Nunes in the box who lobbed a weak effort into the hands of Caoimhin Kelleher.

Nat Phillips was then booked for a trip on a Wolves player on the edge of the area giving Ruben Neves a chance to try and curl a free-kick past Kelleher. However, the Liverpool goalkeeper was untested as the Portuguese midfielder fired over the bar.

Ben Doak then replaced Thiago and Fabinho for Stefan Bajčetić for Liverpool as we entered the final quarter of the game.

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Raúl Jiménez had a huge chance to level the game on 78 minutes heading over at close-range from Adama Traoré’s cross.

Raúl Jiménez made way for Diego Costa in the 83rd minute before Cunha volleyed high and wide after lovely play from Wolves on the left with Costa.

Curtis Jones nearly found Liverpool a second goal from the left-side of the box pulling his shot just wide before Cunha was involved again, heading into Kelleher’s hands as five minutes of additional time was announced.

Cunha earned Wolves a late corner as the home side grew desperate for an equaliser yet they couldn’t find it with a poor set-piece taken short by Podence.

Liverpool saw out the game claiming victory in the Midlands as they look to retain the FA Cup trophy and they will travel to Brighton in the fourth round.