Liverpool fall short in title bid despite winning wild ride against Wolves

Anfield dared to believe in number 20 and the unprecedented quadruple, until a small eruption occurred in the corner of the stadium in the 81st minute. Wolves fans had news of Manchester City’s comeback against Aston Villa and wasted no time announcing Liverpool’s heartbreak.

Jürgen Klopp’s team got the victory that would have seen them crowned Premier League champions but for Ilkay Gündogan’s late winner at the Etihad Stadium. They finished instead with supporters’ chants about running around Paris with the cup, and they will take a repeat of 2019 should the season end with another Champions League triumph against Real Madrid next Saturday, but there was also unmistakable deflation at the end of a day that promised so much only to deliver a tale of what might have been. Liverpool end the season with the third highest points total in the club’s history, the fourth when converting the 42-game 1978-79 season to three points for a win. That the other three have come in the last four seasons underlines the scale of the task required to challenge or unseat City.

This was a wild ride from the outset. Thousands lined Anfield Road to greet the Liverpool team coach before kick off and the atmosphere crackled as Klopp’s players emerged for the warm-up, more in hope than expectation at that stage. Then Anfield suddenly fell silent when Pedro Neto swept the visitors ahead in only the third minute.

The possibility of Wolves taking points from Liverpool, having lost eight of their previous 13 Premier League games, had barely received a mention in the final day narrative. But the hosts received a rude awakening after switching off at a José Sá goal-kick. Ibrahima Konaté completely misread the flight of the Wolves goalkeeper’s clearance