Liverpool 2 Wolves 0: Klopp’s title dreams dashed as Mane double wiped out by Man City win

THRERE were plenty of tears in the Anfield crowd but no-one was really surprised.

Liverpool did what they had to do and beat Wolves courtesy of two Sadio Mane goals - but their dreams were crushed by Manchester City’s win at Brighton.

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So Jurgen Klopp’s team have managed 97 points which would have won them the title in all other seasons apart from last term.

They lost just once – at City on January 3 – and that one result proved to be costly.

Yet while the wait goes on for a title, Liverpool at least have one more game – the Champions League final against Spurs – something they did not expect after the 3-0 first leg semi-final lost to Barcelona.

Unsurprisingly, considering the 4-0 second leg win over Barca, Liverpool’s players looked knackered at the end – and at least they have a few weeks to recover.

DEVASTATED

But Liverpool’s fans will still be devastated at an outstanding season with 30 wins but still not managing the title.

Wolves skipper Conor Coady is a Liverpool fan and former player and played just one league game for the club, six years ago to the day.

So remarkably, Coady won the toss and made Liverpool switch ends so they attacked the Kop in the first half rather than the second.

And it took 17 minutes before the fans in that famous stand were celebrating.

Mane started and finished the move. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross from the right took a deflection off Willy Boly and it fell perfectly for Mane who scored from six yards.

At that moment in time, with Manchester City drawing, Liverpool were champions.

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Wolves, who have finished in their highest League position since 1980, had barely got into Liverpool’s half.

After 26 minutes, the fans at Anfield started to go wild as news filtered through that Glenn Murray had opening the scoring.

And then it went quiet 83 seconds later when they discovered that Sergio Aguero had levelled.

After scoring, Liverpool actually became a bit nervous, particularly with Joel Matip and Alexander-Arnold on the right-hand side.

And just before the break and with their first decent chance of the game, Wolves went close with Matt Doherty side-footing an effort against the bar.

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In the second half, Liverpool carried on looking a bit off the pace. Mohamed Salah kept looking for fouls and the atmosphere felt really flat.

In a rare home attack, Divock Origi had a good chance although Coady made his presence felt as he attempted a flying block.

That was Origi’s last piece of action as he was replaced by James Milner and Liverpool switched to a 4-4-2 formation.

And seconds later, Riyad Mahrez struck a third for City and everything was over – and the fans at Anfield soon discovered the heart-breaking news.

They sang “we shall not be moved” but their dreams had been crushed, not that they would have been shocked.

Diogo Jota had a couple of decent chances for Wolves but keeper Alisson saved.

And with ten minutes left, Mane – although looking slightly offside - used his head to steer in Alexander-Arnold’s cross.

Ultimately, it was not enough – but they still made City fight all the way.

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