Pereira doubtful over Liverpool officiating but laments first-half display

Vitor Pereira was left doubting aspects of the refereeing in Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Liverpool, but labelled Wolves' poor first-half display as their ultimate downfall.

Wolves trailed 2-0 at half-time after Luis Diaz opened the scoring before Mohamed Salah's penalty put Arne Slot's Premier League leaders in full control.

The visitors at Anfield were left frustrated, however, as Ibrahima Konate survived being dismissed in the opening period before Slot withdrew the centre-back at half-time.

Konate was cautioned for tugging back Matheus Cunha on the break, with the Liverpool defender then kicking the ball away shortly after the whistle blew.

The France defender then escaped a second yellow card despite catching Cunha late when contesting for a header, leaving Wolves head coach Pereira to question the officiating from Simon Hooper.

"I had some doubts on some decisions, but I cannot change the decisions," Pereira said after the full-time whistle. "It's football. I cannot complain because the game finished.

"I can do nothing about it. It's time to start thinking about the next game and to take something positive from this game."

Wolves were much-improved in the latter period, with Liverpool failing to attempt a shot in the second half of a Premier League game at Anfield for the first time ever, since records began in the 2003-04 term.

Pereira pinpointed that improvement as he lamented a woeful opening half, with Cunha's wonderful curling finish in the 67th minute proving not enough to drag his side back into the contest.

"The lesson is we are the team that I saw in the second half," the Wolves boss added. "The first half was a team that I didn't recognise on the pitch.

"The first half was a team afraid, with too much respect, in my opinion, and this is not our game. We cannot come to Anfield just to be part of the party.

"I will think about the next game, and in the next game I will push my team to play as I saw my team playing in the second half."

Wolves have now lost their last 10 Premier League games against sides starting the day in the top four, conceding 23 goals and only netting four times themselves.

However, this defeat will have been even harder to take, considering Pereira's side were on top as Hooper sounded the full-time whistle.

"This is football, but I believe that when we play good football, with identity, with our tools, with our qualities, we deserve to get something from football," Pereira added. 

"I want to win games with merit. I want to win games because we deserve to win. The second half was fantastic, in my opinion, it was the team that I want to build."