Liverpool blend golden past with bright future in cathartic FA Cup win over Wolves

Twice in four days, Molineux has had first-hand evidence of Mohamed Salah ’s decline. But twice, too, proof that even in his dotage Salah remains motivated by goals; that, when ageing legs can get him into the position, he can find the net. Liverpool have had a mixed week in Wolverhampton but Salah, who has scored in a Premier League defeat and now an FA Cup win, has had a productive one.

The inconvenient reality may be that he was otherwise ineffective but his 254th Liverpool goal took them a step closer to Wembley. For a player whose lone FA Cup final was curtailed by injury, there may be unfinished business in this competition.

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Mohamed Salah's hunger for goals remains undiminished (Peter Byrne/PA Wire)

And yet, if Liverpool were propelled into the quarter-finals by a veteran left-footer who may be in the last months of his time at Anfield, it was not Salah but Andy Robertson , just as their outstanding winger of the night was not the 33-year-old but the boy barely half his age, in Rio Ngumoha.

Robertson has reacted better to his demotion this season than Salah did in the autumn. An Anfield great has been limited to five league starts. Unleashed in the FA Cup , he illustrated why he ranked among the finest attacking left-backs of his generation, delivering a goal and an assist in two minutes. When Liverpool required someone to unlock Wolves’ dogged defence, Robertson obliged.

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Mohamed Salah (centre) grabbed Liverpool’s second (PA Wire)

He formed part of a left-sided duo who could be characterised as the past and the future. He and Ngumoha combined in the build-up to Salah’s goal. The teenager was terrific, a blur of stepovers, in the biggest start of his fledgling career. It indicated he will grace bigger occasions than this.

And Arne Slot could sense his changes worked. He brought four players into the starting 11. While Ngumoha starred, two others struck. Curtis Jones , who had scored in the fourth round against Brighton, curled in a shot from 20 yards for Liverpool’s third goal. Like Robertson, he finished with a goal and an assist.

There was a cathartic element to victory in the rematch with the Premier League’s bottom club. Liverpool had shown more intent but the first half score was the same as on Tuesday: goalless, though the shot count read 11-0 in their favour.

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Rio Ngumoha dazzled at times for Liverpool (Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

They began without £300m of attack-minded summer signings, with Alexander Isak still injured, Hugo Ekitike remaining unused on the bench and Florian Wirtz making his comeback as a substitute. If they were looking for individual inspiration, it came from an £8m bargain.

Robertson arrowed in a drive from 20 yards after Jones laid the ball off for him. The Scot had known little about his only other goal of the season, against Atletico Madrid in September but this was the sweetest of strikes.

The quality in his left foot was apparent, too, with a deep low cross that Salah swept in at the far post. He was adjudged offside, to his evident frustration, and could be pleased that VAR is a factor from the fifth round of the competition. Replays showed he was behind the ball when Robertson centred. After two goals in 15 Liverpool games, he has two in two. Salah had been utterly unimpressive up to that point but, as on Tuesday, something stirred in him when the opportunity opened up.

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Hwang Hee Chang grabbed a late consolation for Wolves (Martin Rickett/PA Wire)

Jones then made victory so comfortable that Slot could do that rarest of things and substitute Virgil van Dijk ; his replacement, Ibrahima Konate, somehow missed a chance to add a fourth goal. Liverpool’s lone concern may have been that Alexis Mac Allister hobbled off, caught by a heavy challenge from Hee-Chan Hwang.

The disappointment for the fans who had sought Ngumoha’s inclusion might be that his encouraging display was not capped with a goal. He had a shot parried after tricking his way past Jackson Tchatchoua. Another went just wide after a driving run. His willingness to run at defenders nevertheless added another dimension. Unsurprisingly, he looked fearless.

Wolves had been more timid at the start, camped behind the ball. Yet that approach had worked well when they recorded just their third Premier League victory of the season. Their supporters were eager to remind Liverpool of it, as a taunt of “2-1 to the Championship” showed.

Arguably Rob Edwards, who made six changes, began with a stronger side than on Tuesday but they were undone by Liverpool’s swift double at the start of the second half. Thereafter, Mateus Mane’s lob cleared the visitors’ goal. In the 91st-minute, Hwang reduced the deficit on a counter-attack, assisted by goalkeeper Sam Johnstone. This time, however, Liverpool did not need to rue an injury-time goal at Molineux.

So Liverpool advanced. This is their best chance of a trophy this season and it may be both Salah and Robertson’s last year on Merseyside. For each, there might be a silver lining.