Liverpool edge past Wolves in contentious FA Cup replay

Liverpool edged out Wolverhampton Wanders to advance to the fourth round of the FA Cup on Tuesday, winning a close 1-0 replay that Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui insists should never have happened.

Liverpool's Harvey Elliott in action with Wolverhampton Wanderers' Adama Traore during an FA Cup third-round replay at Molineux in Wolverhampton, England on Tuesday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Liverpool edged out Wolverhampton Wanders to advance to the fourth round of the FA Cup on Tuesday, winning a close 1-0 replay that Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui insists should never have happened.

A stunning first-half drive from Harvey Elliott put the visitors ahead early at the Molineux in Wolverhampton, England, with a fairly toothless Wolves unable to respond. Unusually since Lopetegui took the helm, Korean midfielder Hwang Hee-chan spent the game on the bench, perhaps resting ahead of the big Premier League clash with Manchester City on Sunday.

Although Hwang was on the bench, Raúl Jiménez, João Moutinho, Daniel Podence, Matheus Cunha and Matheus Nunes all got some time on the pitch.

With the beefed up attack, Wolves applied significant pressure late in the second half but proved unable to break a far more confident Liverpool side than the one that lost 3-0 to Brighton just three days earlier.

The loss comes as an especially bitter pill to swallow for Wolves and Lopetegui, especially considering the circumstances surrounding the third round replay.

Wolves had held Liverpool to a 2-2 draw in the first attempt at the game on Jan. 7, with Hwang scoring the crucial equalizer.

As far as Wolves were concerned, however, Hwang’s effort was not the final goal of the night, with an 82nd-minute Toti Gomes goal was disallowed for an offside in the build-up that neither the players on the pitch or the TV-watching audience could see any evidence of.

The resulting furor saw Wolves manager Julen Lopetegui booked and did nothing to overturn the decision, leaving the score at 2-2 and the dreaded rematch to be played. The obvious mistake, media reports later suggested, was due to a VAR technical failure that caused Toti’s goal to be dismissed outright.

Speaking after Tuesday’s game, Lopetegui focused on what he felt should have been a match-winning performance against Liverpool.

“It’s very frustrating because I felt we started good, after we suffered a goal, and maybe we could do more,” Lopetegui said. “After, I think we suffered a lot from the effect of the goal, for the next minutes. I think we changed things and in the second half I can’t talk more for my players, the effort, the commitment, the belief.

“I suffer for our fans and our players, but looking for the two matches, we deserved to pass, but this is not about what you deserve, it’s about scoring goals. We scored three at Anfield, but, unfortunately, we know what happened there, and now today, in the first half, I am not happy.”

Regardless of the cup exit, the change in Wolves under Lopetegui is clear to see in every match. Having already risen from last place to 16th in the Premier League since the Spaniard took over, Wolves face their next big challenge on Sunday as they take on Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]