Not since the opening day of the season had Liverpool scored just once in a Premier League game. In fact, against a Wolverhampton Wanderers who were dogged, obdurate and occasionally threatening, Liverpool seemed to be cruising towards their first scoreless league encounter since Manchester United’s January visit to Anfield. Then, in the fourth minute of added time, Virgil Van Dijk launched a long ball towards Mohamed Salah on the right. Salah’s magnificent first touch enabled him to speed past just introduced substitute Ki-Jana Hoever and cross low. Divock Origi gathered, swivelled and fired past Jose Sa. Liverpool had plucked victory from the jaws of parity.

“It feels really big,” said Jurgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager. “It was a really difficult game. I liked the game we played. We had to keep going and Origi, the legend, finished it off for us. This was not a lucky win, we had chance after chance but did not score. A point would have been lucky for Wolves.”

Naturally, Bruno Lage, the Wolves head coach begged to differ.

“This was a solid performance. The players did everything we planned and certainly didn’t deserve to lose this game. At this moment it’s hard to accept the loss of that point, but we’ll move on and everyone should be proud of their performance,” he said.

Both helmsmen differing views had merit. As Klopp noted, Liverpool did create almost all the chances and showed the hunger to keep going and keep grinding. In Adama Traore, though, Wolves had the game’s most exciting contributor and if Alisson was barely troubled in the Liverpool goal, as Lage pointed out, Wolves were never overwhelmed against one of the world’s best teams.

Chelsea’s surrender at West Ham and Manchester City’s late start at Watford meant the three points briefly leapfrogged Liverpool to the Premier League’s summit, but while they were far from their normally freeflowing selves, this was a victory hewn from stone.

Wolves may have been their third game in a week and a midweek trip – albeit a meaningless one for Liverpool – to Milan looms, Klopp retained the starting XI that demolished Everton. He has, it seems found his strongest team.

Aided by a long run of gentle fixtures Wolves kicked off sitting snugly in seventh, even after two goalless draws. They utilised Traore as an ever-willing outlet, they swamped midfield where Ruben Neves was preferred to Joao Moutinho and they kept their passes crisp and their pressing gegen.

Liverpool tried to take stock, but with the crowd in fervid mod, especially when Traore was in possession, they were sucked into the frenetic early maelstrom. Sadio Mane, of all people, took it upon himself to assist Andrew Robertson’s herculian task in combatting Traore until Thiago stepped up. When they did fashion an opportunity after Thiago’s cross sailed over Rayan Ait-Nouri, Trent Alexander-Arnold volleyed wildly over.

Sensing blood, Liverpool began to turn the screw as the Wolves storm abated. Jordan Henderson directed operations like an auteur and Fabinho began to do the heavy lifting. Alexander-Arnold did better just after the half-hour with a cute, dinked cross to the back post which former Wolves hero Diogo Jota headed just wide. The pressure built. When Robertson did get forwards he guided a low hard cross into the six-yard box which somehow evaded the onrushing Mane. Salah looked set for a tap in, only to be brilliantly robbed by Romain Saiss.

On the cusp of half-time, Wolves served notice they were not yet extinct, when Ait Nouri rolled a daisycutter towards Traore. Alisson didn’t quite deal with it, but the ball drifted wide. Traore himself began to drift infield and such was his unplayability in the second period, two Liverpool players wee booked for hacking him down. Just after the break, he spun around Van Dijk to tee up Hwang Hee-Chan, but the South Korean stumbled under Alexander-Arnold’s attentions.

Liverpool kept edging closer and when a Salah miss-hit found Thiago waiting to pounce, the Spain international had three attempts. Raul Jimenez blocked the first, Sa somehow saved the second one with his feet and the third bobbled wide.

Then, one of the more bizarre misses of the season. Jota ran onto a through ball down the right. Sa hurtled out of the area but took out only team-mate Saiss. Jota ran towards goal. Conor Coady and Max Kilman were on the line, offering what seemed to be futile resistance. Unfathomably, Jota walloped the ball right at Coady and Wolves celebrated as if they had scored.

Klopp had seen enough. On came Origi to add even more attacking ballast. Origi was a cauldron of muscly energy (“if I was with another club, I would go in for him,” quipped Klopp), but the contest had turned gung-ho. The longer it progressed, the stronger and seemingly faster Traore became when Wolves counter attacked.

Liverpool still looked to seal the deal when they went forwards. Another wonderful Sa save kept out Mane’s late, late effort and Wolves seemed to have secured the point few would have begrudged them. They hadn’t.