Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers came together in a deeply emotional atmosphere at Anfield on Saturday as both clubs paid heartfelt tributes to the late Diogo Jota, who tragically passed away in a car accident in Spain in July.
Before kick-off, two of Jota’s children, Dinis and Duarte, walked onto the pitch as mascots alongside Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk and Wolves goalkeeper José Sá. At the same time, their mother Rute watched from the sidelines. Wolves honoured their former number 18 with a song in the 18th minute, while Liverpool followed with applause and chants in the 20th minute for their beloved number 20.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒖𝒎.”
Wirtz Marks First Liverpool Goal in Emotional Victory Jota
Inspired by the moving Jota tributes, Liverpool made a fast start and took control in the first half. Ryan Gravenberch struck early, and moments later, record signing Florian Wirtz opened his Liverpool account. The German midfielder timed his run perfectly between the centre-backs before calmly finishing, a goal that brought both relief and emotion to Anfield.
“𝑺𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒂 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎,” 𝒂 𝑳𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒇𝒇 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈.
Wolves responded after the break, briefly threatening a comeback. Alisson Becker initially denied Tolu Arokodare with a sharp save, but the rebound was converted to reduce the deficit and put pressure on the hosts. Despite sustained attacks from the visitors, Liverpool held firm, with Conor Bradley making a crucial late block to preserve the win.
The result extended Liverpool’s winning run to three matches, lifting them to fourth place with 32 points from 18 games. Wolves, meanwhile, remain rooted to the bottom of the Premier League, becoming the first side to go winless in their opening 18 matches of a season.
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