Luck falls Liverpool´s way

Kenny Dalglish believes Liverpool deserved the slice of luck that sent them on their way to a 2-1 victory against Wolves on Saturday.

The Reds took the lead at Anfield in the 11th minute when Wolves captain Roger Johnson deflected Charlie Adam’s shot – which appeared to be heading wide – into his own net.

Luis Suarez doubled the advantage from a tight angle in the 38th minute but the Reds were forced to hold on in the closing stages after missing a number of chances.

Liverpool have been on the receiving end of some controversial officiating decisions in recent weeks and Dalglish feels it was about time his side had a bit of fortune.

“Maybe we got a bit of fortune with the deflection for the first goal but we deserve a bit of luck,” Dalglish said. “We’ve not had much recently.”

“I think we deserved three points although it was difficult at times. We didn’t half compete well today. To compete properly is one of the attributes you need in the game.”

“They scored early on in the second half which gave them a bit of momentum.”

“They put us under pressure and we had to win headers and blocks, but equally we had chances at the other end. You’ve got to give them credit – they deserve it for the way they went about the game.”

Dalglish reserved praise for Suarez, whose expertly taken goal proved the difference in the end after Wolves pulled one back through Steven Fletcher four minutes after the restart.

“Luis has been outstanding since he came here, not just on the pitch but off it as well,” he said.

“It was a fantastic goal for Luis, who has been fantastic since coming here. He’s playing with a smile on his face and he’s a good personality to have around the place.”

“We’ve been very fortunate to have him – we look forward to many happy days with him here because he’s been outstanding for Liverpool.”

While Dalglish was pleased with his team’s performance, Wolves manager Mick McCarthy believes Johnson’s own-goal should not have been awarded due to a foul in the build-up.

McCarthy was angry that referee Kevin Friend did not award a free-kick to his side ahead of the hosts’ opener.

“I thought we started OK in the first 10 minutes but Roger Johnson was fouled before the first goal,” he said.

“Carroll barged into him and Johnson was still getting into position when he scored the own goal.”

“For their second goal it was a case that we tried to play offside and didn’t do it.”

Wolves were much-improved in the second half and McCarthy felt the display provided a more accurate reflection of his side’s ability following their dismal 3-0 home loss to QPR a week ago.

“I’m happy with where we are,” he said. “We’ve had one poor performance.”

“I expected an improvement on last week’s performance. We don’t have many games like the one against QPR – my teams don’t usually play like that.”

“We were a far better team in the second half and that’s the level of performance I would expect from us.”