‘Bad’: Champions embarrassed as 94th-min calamity v bottom club deepens nightmare, Slot pressure

Liverpool suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolves as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the Premier League’s bottom club.

Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux.

Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November.

But Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool.

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It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017.

Liverpool have conceded 14 goals in the last 15 minutes of the second half, with only Newcastle shipping more in the same period in the Premier League.

The Reds remain fifth but their hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League have been hurt by a defeat that means sixth-placed Chelsea will go above them if they beat Aston Villa on Wednesday.

Liverpool’s first defeat in five games in all competitions will raise fresh questions about Slot’s Anfield future.

“Bad result,” Slot said. “We are losing far too many football games and dropping points.

“Was it again in extra (added) time that we conceded? The three times we lost in the last 22 games were all in extra time.”

This was the first of Liverpool’s two trips to Molineux in the space of four days, with an immediate chance for revenge in the FA Cup fifth round on Friday.

Slot this week said he no longer finds Premier League matches a “joy to watch” due to the rise in set-piece goals, and Liverpool supporters took no pleasure from this dismal performance.

Wolves and Liverpool fans joined in a sustained round of applause on 18 minutes in memory of Diogo Jota, who wore that shirt number during his time at Molineux before joining the Reds.

Portugal forward Jota died in a car crash in Spain last year.

That emotional tribute seemed to suck the energy from both teams in a scrappy first half.

Liverpool were punished for their lethargy in the 78th minute. Tolu Arokodare got away with a nudge on Virgil van Dijk to win the ball before playing a superb pass to Rodrigo Gomes, who held off Ibrahima Konate and guided a clinical finish past Alisson Becker.

Liverpool finally awoke from their slumber after that shock, grabbing an equaliser in the 83rd minute with a helping hand from Wolves.

Wolves midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde was guilty of a woeful pass that Salah intercepted, racing into the area for a shot that eluded Jose Sa’s weak attempted save.

Salah has scored just eight goals -- five in the league -- during a turbulent season.

Liverpool were still creaky at the back and Andre pounced on Alisson’s poor clearance four minutes to steal the points in stoppage-time.

Andre’s powerful strike deflected off Liverpool defender Joe Gomez and looped over the wrong-footed Alisson as Wolves boss Rob Edwards sprinted down the touchline in a wild celebration while Slot looked on crestfallen.

Slot urged his players to solve their late-game meltdowns in time to salvage one of the most disappointing campaigns in Liverpool’s illustrious history.

“We hardly conceded a chance, created not so much but more than they did, but the result is again a 2-1 loss,” said Slot, who spent around £450 million ($A850m) on new signings before this season.

One of many Reds stars well below their best, Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk conceded his team had only themselves to blame.

Van Dijk was caught out during the build-up to Wolves’ opener and missed a golden opportunity to put Liverpool 2-1 up before Andre’s winner.

“I think it’s down to ourselves. It was slow, we were predictable, sloppy in possession and wrong decision-making,” he said.

“We didn’t concede chances but if you perform like that then a result like this can be a result of that and that’s a fact. It was disappointing.”

Wolves are 11 points from safety with eight games left and relegation remains almost certain despite this memorable victory.

Everton ended their dismal home form and pushed Burnley closer to relegation with a 2-0 win at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Buoyed by their 3-2 win at Newcastle last weekend, Everton dispatched second-bottom Burnley with their first win in eight home league matches.

Former Burnley defender James Tarkowski put Everton in front with a powerful header from James Garner’s 32nd minute free-kick.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall doubled Everton’s advantage on the hour taking Iliman Ndiaye’s pass and clipping a composed finish past Martin Dubravka from six yards.

Everton remain in contention for a European berth, while Burnley are eight points from safety with just nine games left.

Habib Diarra’s penalty fired Sunderland to a 1-0 victory against Leeds on their first Premier League visit to Elland Road since 2002.

Bournemouth and Brentford shared a goalless draw at the Vitality Stadium that did little to improve either side’s hopes of qualifying for Europe, with tempers flaring after the fulltime siren.

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