Sipke Hulshoff was booked during the first half of Liverpool’s game against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League after emotions threatened to boil over.
Anthony Taylor’s yellow cards were not exclusively reserved for the players during Liverpool’s meeting with Wolves, as staff members on both benches were cautioned during the first half at Molineux.
The Reds travelled to Wolverhampton on Saturday in the knowledge that a win would be enough to take them to the top of the Premier League table after Manchester City’s draw at Newcastle.
However, Liverpool did not have it all its own way in the first half as Wolves had the better of proceedings throughout the opening half an hour.
The visitors grew into the game as half-time approached, and Ibrahima Konate eventually gave Arne Slot’s side the lead during first-half injury time, but not before Diogo Jota faced a VAR check for a possible red card after a hefty challenge on Mario Lemina.
Jota escaped with just a booking, and after cautioning the Portugal international, referee Taylor headed over to the dug-outs to show his yellow card to Liverpool coach Spike Hulshoff and Wolves coach Shaun Derry.
Hulshoff and Derry were booked after becoming involved in a heated argument with each other over Jota’s foul. The first half of the match between Wolves and Liverpool was largely forgettable, but Konate ensured the Reds had a lead to defend heading into the half-time break as he headed home from Jota’s brilliant cross.
A dominant period after half-time followed and looked as though it would result in Liverpool extending its lead, but some sloppy defending from Ibrahima Konate allowed Rayan Ait-Nouri to equalise against the run of play.
Wolves remained level for a matter of minutes, though, as Jota was brought down in the box by Nelson Semedo and Mohamed Salah duly dispatched the resultant free-kick.
Should Liverpool go on to record victory at Wolves, only Aston Villa could end the Premier League weekend level on points with the Reds. Manchester City and Arsenal will both be a point behind the Reds on 14, but Unai Emery’s side is currently on 12 points from five games and Villa travels to Ipswich Town on Sunday.
