Mohamed Salah’s penalty sees off battling Wolves to send Liverpool top

It did not feel like bottom versus top as Wolves succumbed to Liverpool. There was not a stark difference between the teams but, unsurprisingly, those now sitting at the summit possessed the greater quality in the critical moments as Liverpool showed they could win without playing well, a trait any team challenging for the title require.

Rayan Aït-Nouri cancelled out Ibrahima Konaté’s opener, only for Liverpool to win a penalty in the immediate aftermath of the equaliser. From the spot, Mohamed Salah hit his fifth goal of the season to earn the points, even though his side failed to reach the levels Arne Slot expects.

Related: Chelsea’s Cole Palmer hits record four goals in first half to rock Brighton

Liverpool have five wins from six league matches, still learning their lessons from the solitary defeat by Nottingham Forest. Slot’s side were sluggish in the opening stages, hindered by Wolves’ gameplan, leaving them unable to find anything akin to rhythm but started to become threatening as the half-time break beckoned. Wolves were keeping the visitors quiet, putting in an industrious performance but rarely threatening Alisson, returning from a hamstring injury.

Despite the best efforts of Mario Lemina, João Gomes and André, Ryan Gravenberch was able to take control of the match in the middle and increase the tempo when it was required to push Liverpool forward on a difficult evening. The Dutchman’s move to a No 6 role under Slot has been defining in this early push to the top. Gravenberch is a calming influence, happy to take possession in all situations.

“The first 15 minutes were difficult for us. Wolves had a week to prepare and if you have a very good manager like Gary O’Neil, who’s tactically really strong, he comes up with a really good gameplan,” Slot said. “When it died down a bit, the energy went away, then we took more and more control over the game.”

Width became the key for Liverpool, helping them head down the tunnel at half-time with a lead. Dominik Szoboszlai should have opened the scoring but his point-blank volley from an Andy Robertson cross was expertly stopped by Sam Johnstone, yet the hosts’ relief did not last long. The lead arrived after Konaté stayed up for a corner and leapt highest to power a Diogo Jota delivery past Johnstone, whose left hand was unable to stop the header.

Wolves are yet to win this season but despite the lack of positive results, they worked incredibly hard and earned some luck to get an equaliser. Jørgen Strand Larsen refused to let Konaté shepherd the ball out for a goal kick, winning it on the byline before laying it back to Carlos Forbs. He miscontrolled in the direction of Aït-Nouri who tapped home to send Molineux – very – briefly wild.

When at the bottom things are rarely simple. Five minutes later Nélson Semedo pulled down Jota in the Wolves box. Anthony Taylor awarded a penalty and Salah was not going to pass up the opportunity to score his fourth Premier League goal of the campaign. It was the 16th goal conceded by Wolves in six matches, the worst defensive record in the league, although they have played five of last season’s top seven already.

“The lads performed excellently, we lost control and forgot the script for a minute. We opened the game up for one moment and we got badly punished for that lapse,” O’Neil said. “In terms of the team going toe-to-toe with one of the biggest clubs in the country, I am really proud of what they gave. They deserve to be on more than one point from six games.”

• Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for 'The Guardian'.

• If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.

• In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.

• Turn on sport notifications.

Forbs had an opportunity to equalise, getting past Trent Alexander-Arnold, but had to cut inside before shooting, allowing Konaté to get back and block the shot, making up for his error during the buildup to the equaliser. It summed up the difference in the two teams, as Wolves lacked a clinical edge when they had chances, not that they were able to create many.

“All the players have so much experience that they understand that six games into the season it doesn’t give you a realistic view on the league table,” Slot said. “That is more like in 19 games, then you can really feel: ‘OK, where are we?’” He may protest but Slot looks to be enjoying the present, too.

• This article was amended on 28 September 2024. An earlier version referred to Carlos Forbs outpacing Andy Robertson before his shot was blocked, whereas Trent Alexander-Arnold was the Liverpool defender involved.