E&S fans' verdict on stunning Wolves win at Liverpool

Chris Hughes

What's your verdict on the match? As weekends go this was a pretty good one! Even before Richard Stearman was sprinting away from the Kop in Shearer-esque celebration after only 53 seconds, the away end was bouncing.

The reaction to being ahead inside a minute was incredible (and took me fully six minutes to recover from!) with limbs everywhere and fans ending up rows away from where they began their celebrations.

If Costa had managed to finish his outstanding run a few minutes later by sticking the ball in the net I'd wager there would be some fans jumping onto the pitch to celebrate a goal that we'd see again and again.

That was the highlight of an individual show-reel performance from Costa that reinforced the belief that his loan move has to become permanent.

After 40 minutes or so of Wolves fans doing their best to ensure Anfield's 'famous' atmosphere was kept alive by creating more noise than the three silent home stands, there was more mayhem as Costa slipped in Weimann to round the keeper and ridiculously provide a no-look finish into the empty Kop net.

More limbs, more rearranging of seating positions in the Anfield Road and a desperation for the half-time cover for some recovery time for the fans as well as the players!

Liverpool introduced Coutinho at half-time as they desperately tried to save their season but even his introduction didn't cause us too many problems.

All XI battled manfully to restrict the home side to a flurry of long range efforts before, inevitably, we conceded a goal late on to increase the tension for the last five minutes. It wouldn't be Wolves if we did it easy, would it?

Kudos to Harry Burgoyne for an absolutely massive save at 2-1 to preserve the lead and to Bodvarsson, who almost made it 3-1 following a 50 yard run and shot which was knocked away off the line, for his impressive relieving of pressure in the last 20 minutes by holding the ball up excellently with little support coming from our deep-lying midfield.

The full time whistle was met with more rapturous celebrations and a double-dose of the Icelandic clap from Bodvarsson that even Russ Cockburn, usually adamant that he would never join in with one, raised his arms to 'ooosh' with the rest of the stand to.

The likelihood is that he was just relieved at the victory that puts an end to the #StayAwayRuss campaign on Twitter.

Who played well - and who didn't impress? Everyone involved was excellent and stuck to their tasks brilliantly to restrict Liverpool's space around our penalty area.

The standouts were Costa, who was unplayable at times and caused Moreno all sorts of problems, Stearman and Hause in the middle of the defence, and Bodvarsson in his 20 minute appearance.

There was also the most determined performance I've ever seen from a player in Coady. He was committed to every challenge and looked like he was relishing in his first opportunity to play first team football at his beloved Anfield.

Even Edwards put in a disciplined midfield performance and held his position well. It was even better than the shots of 'Dave' on offer in Baa Bar on Friday night!

Russ Cockburn

What's your verdict on the match? Well how do you put that into words? Up there with Cardiff 2003, with Wolves pretty much taking over Anfield and Liverpool city centre...quite a sight and experience.

It was a complete performance with every player giving 150 per cent and sticking to Lambert's beautifully executed game plan...keep it compact, let them try to play through you and then hit them on the break.

Costa was like a Rolls-Royce, gliding past Liverpool players with ease and providing two fantastic assists for the goal. The guy is fast becoming a Molineux legend and if he continues in this form the man on the 'oss' should be replaced with a statue of Helder.

Forget the Dortmund wall, Klopp was greeted by the WV1 version and he had no answer to it. Coady was like a man possessed, Doherty his usual eight out of 10 and Hause and Stearman were solid as a rock. The latter thrives on these occasions and you could evidently see how much it meant to him.

The midfield three were like terriers, with Evans and Saville giving Liverpool little space and Edwards orchestrating the troops with more arm movements than a Madonna pop video.

Weimann and Costa provided the width and incision and Dicko, then Bodvarsson, were tireless in their running and hold-up play, making sure the Scousers had a hard day's night.

Then we come on to young Harry - 20 years old and thrown into a massive game and he took to it like a duck to water. Composed, great save near the end and a calming influence for the defence...we've got another good keeper here to follow in the footsteps of Murry and Ikeme.

A lot of the talk will be about Liverpool not turning up, but despite the fact Klopp's team were more off colour than his teeth, you've got to say that is as comfortable an away victory as you'll get at Anfield.

Freddy Boswell, Cilla Black, Jimmy Tarbuck, Sporty Spice, your boys took one hell of a beating.

Who played well - and who didn't impress? All in all I can't fault any of the players and a special mention must go to Lambert, who came with a game plan and executed it.

He kicked every ball and the fans feed off his passion on the touchline. Whisper it quietly, but I think we've got something exciting happening down here.

Russ Evers (Hatherton Wolves)

What's your verdict on the match? I'm often asked "why do you spend all that money and time watching Wolves?" This is why.

For the second successive cup tie we are drawn away against a Premier League team and the manager picks the reserves. And for the second successive cup tie the reserves made their supposed betters look average at best.

To a man Wolves were superb, fighting for every scrap given to them.

The number of Wolves fans clutching winning betting slips was testimony to the growing belief in this lot. My third taste of victory at Anfield with Wolves and none have tasted sweeter.

That's why we spend the money and the time. Pride. Passion. Belief. Howie, they did us proud mate

Who played well - and who didn't impress? We had a 20-year-old lad in goal who didn't look at all overawed in front of the Kop. The defence was simply immense led by Stearman the goal machine and the hugely impressive Kortney Hause.

Both full backs were great and assisted a midfield that resembled our Checkatrade trophy side. Evans and Saville have never had better games whilst Edwards did what Edwards does- minus the goal.

Weimann ran himself into the ground as did Costa who Liverpool just couldn't deal with. Dicko tried but Jon Dadi looked a far better prospect and almost scored through dogged determination and then led the squad through two thunderclaps.

Peter Abbott (London Wolves)

What's your verdict on the match? Happy days, cup surprise. Can Wolves progress even further in the FA Cup? Maybe, maybe not, but hey, give me plenty of this to look forward in the next round please.

It was a wonderful start and a fantastic pressing performance in the first half, maybe backs to the wall in the second half but a good battling performance and the 20-25 yard defensive arc stood strong.

All needed irrespective of a supposedly weakened Liverpool line-up.

I already can't wait for next round draw."

Who played well - and who didn't impress? Burgoyne had little to do in one sense, however when called upon he made couple of good saves. There were no slip ups and he looked confident and assured.

Doherty must have covered every blade of grass whichever end we defended. Coady won every one of his tackles. Stearman was outstanding, brave and knew his job perfectly. Also Hause who successfully found row Z when necessary.

The Evans and Saville partnership again looked strong although with a good dollop of Edwards energy and enthusiasm to glue together this pretty decent midfield selection.

All of Costa, Dicko and Weimann quite literally, ran themselves into the ground. Costa's pace and class in the first period was as good as any of the Liverpool stars brought on as subs. Sign him up, sign him up.

Bodvarsson was so unlucky at the end of his mazy run which would have finished the game early and Mason also came on as an effective defensive backup.

And what a star Connor Ronan is...not phased at all, known to have superb skill, plus good tackling, awareness and so especially confident.

Big congratulations to the whole team.

Heather Large

What's your verdict on the match? An incredible win at Anfield and Helder Costa due to sign - what a day to be a Wolves fan!

Paul Lambert had said before kick-off that we had nothing to lose against Liverpool and that was all fine until 51 seconds in and one wonder header from Stearman later and suddenly we did have something to lose!

After jubilant celebrations in the away end, the fear set in - would we have to spend the remaining 89+ minutes defending for our lives to snatch a win at another Premier League ground?

No we wouldn't because it turns out there was no reason to be afraid (well, not until the four minutes of injury time at least, because that was torture), this Wolves side was determined to win.

We had Costa, Dicko and Weimann helping to take the pressure off by running rings around the Liverpool defenders.

Costa was fantastic, showing exactly why we can't do without him, Dicko ran his socks off and Weimann's goal, on the counter-attack, was just brilliant and hopefully the first of many to come from him.

Our back four were solid. While Stearman was the stand out player, I thought Coady, Hause and Doherty were all excellent and all four worked very well together. Definitely one of the best defensive displays I've seen this season.

In midfield, Saville proved crucial in breaking down the Liverpool attacks.

Bodvarsson, coming on for a worn-out Dicko, played a huge role, really helping to relieve some of the pressure towards the end as he charged down the wing.

What a feeling when the ref finally blew the whistle. It's definitely a match I will never forget.

Who played well - and who didn't impress? I think we can be proud of every single player, they all went out there and gave it their all for the club and all of last night's celebratory photographs and passionate tweets showed it meant as much to them as it did to us. What a game!

Rob Cartwright

What's your verdict on the match?

It's days like this that make you addicted to football. Superb isn't quite a good enough way to describe the day.

I literally couldn't believe what was happening. Yes, we allowed Liverpool too much possession, yes we played far too deep in the second half. But did it matter? Not a jot.

Every man in a gold shirt stood up strong and executed the gameplan, proving that the team is greater than all the individual parts.

Every single player upped their game and left nothing on the pitch, at the end.

I thought we'd scored too early! Fear not. Liverpool were restricted to shooting from outside the box. Even when bringing on their 'big guns' they posed little threat until the last 15 minutes.

Fact is we had the four best chances of the game and scored two of them. When the four minutes added time was shown, my son turned to me and said "am I dreaming this? No I'm not, it's actually real".

The magic of the FA Cup. Thank you Wolves, you made us glow with pride.

Who played well - and who didn't impress? The whole team was immense. They didn't half put a shift in!

Costa was fast and skilful, supplying the ball for both goals. Dicko ran the line relentlessly for an hour. He didn't get a chance but I was so impressed with him.

Bodvarsson came on and looked back to his best with pace and impact for 20 minutes. The defence cleared everything that was thrown at them, while the midfield trio of Edwards, Saville and Evans were like little terriers snapping at he heels every time a red shirt came near with the ball.

And Stearman was like a gladiator. What a performance - man of the match.