First-half goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Jarell Quansah – both scored soon after Wolves’ Nelson Semedo had been sent off following a VAR review for a foul on the Reds’ No.10 – ensured Klopp’s 491st and last match in charge fittingly ended in victory.
With a third-placed finish in the Premier League already confirmed, the home crowd was very much focused on affording Klopp a grand farewell.
With Anfield bathed in sunshine throughout, the match was played out amid a carnival atmosphere and the closing minutes of his glorious reign were set to a repeated and raucous rendition of Jürgen said to me….
Team news
Andy Robertson returned to the starting XI as Klopp made one change in his final team selection. Meanwhile, Diogo Jota was back among the substitutes after injury.
Liverpool: Alisson, Endo, Van Dijk, Diaz (Nunez, 69), Mac Allister (Gravenberch, 69), Salah, Gakpo (Szoboszlai, 80), Elliott (Jones, 80), Robertson, Alexander-Arnold (Bradley, 69), Quansah.
Unused subs: Kelleher, Gomez, Konate, Jota.
After Quansah had made a crucial last-ditch challenge to thwart Joao Gomes, Liverpool’s grip on the contest tightened.
Trent Alexander-Arnold saw an effort blocked before Virgil van Dijk and Luis Diaz each called Jose Sa into action, though the Wolves goalkeeper was able to make comfortable saves on both occasions.
The pattern of the match was already set, then, but Semedo’s dismissal tipped the balance of power further in the Reds’ favour and, six minutes later, the opening goal arrived.
Harvey Elliott had pulled out to the right flank and delivered a pinpoint cross that Mac Allister met with a fine glancing header.
Sa then palmed Wataru Endo’s low curler wide but, from the resulting corner, Liverpool’s lead was doubled when Quansah bundled the ball over the line after Salah had directed Cody Gakpo’s flick-on goalwards.
Second half
With a two-goal cushion and the numerical advantage, it was no surprise to see Liverpool emerge from half-time with confidence and Mac Allister saw a goal disallowed – Diaz had been offside in the build-up – within seconds of the restart.
Diaz then struck the underside of the crossbar after Gakpo had nipped in ahead of Sa and supplied the cross, before the Dutchman saw an attempt of his own saved.
A clear desire to finish the season with a clean sheet was evident at the other end, too, as Van Dijk got himself in the way after Rayan Ait-Nouri had bypassed Alisson Becker by feeding Matheus Cunha.
Of course, no player scored more often during Klopp’s tenure than Salah and the Egyptian so nearly rounded off the era with yet another goal only for Sa, at full stretch, to claw his shot wide.
But the party mood was now in full swing as Anfield paid a fittingly noisy and fond farewell tribute to a legendary figure in the club’s history.
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