Reds stunned by Wolves

Stephen Ward stunned the Kop with the only goal of the game as Liverpool slumped to a 1-0 defeat at home to Wolves on Wednesday night.

The Irish midfielder struck a 56^th minute winner as Mick McCarthy's men moved off the foot of the Barclays Premier League table with a famous Anfield triumph.

The result means Roy Hodgson's side have now lost eight league matches so far this season and remain 12^th in the standings, 12 points adrift of fourth placed Chelsea with a game in hand.

The pre-match chatter had centred upon the return to action of Steven Gerrard while the sad passing of ex-Reds Bill Jones and Avi Cohen meant there was a pause prior to kick- off as Anfield paid its respects with a minute's applause.

The fitting tribute was followed by a hungry start by the home side, perhaps unsurprising given that this was their first run-out in the league since their 3-1 reversal at Newcastle United on December 11.

The adverse weather conditions had put paid to the Reds' hopes of adding to the fans' festive cheer any earlier, but they were almost celebrating a belated gift when Fernando Torres exposed the Wolves rearguard on nine minutes.

A quick-thinking free-kick by the Spaniard sent Raul Meireles through on goal but the No.4 was denied his first in a red shirt by a fine point-blank stop from Wayne Hennessey.

If Kopites felt that was the beginning of the onslaught they would be sadly mistaken as the visitors began to grow in confidence.

Indeed, few observers had given the visitors any hope of upsetting Liverpool at Anfield in the run up to the encounter, but they almost snatched the lead on 17 minutes when Glen Johnson's superb defensive header prevented Stephen Hunt from having a free sight of goal at the far post.

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Mick McCarthy's men seemed eager to attack the Reds at every opportunity and some of their build-up play belied their position at the foot of the Barclays Premier League table.

Liverpool were neat and tidy in possession but lacked a cutting edge, a fact that was underlined on 33 minutes when Paul Konchesky crashed a 30 yarder well off target.

David Ngog tried to alter that with a stinging shot that flew straight into Hennessey's midriff before seeing a curled effort deflected to safety by Richard Stearman.

That was as good as it got in a first 45 devoid of any true quality and Hodgson would have demanded a marked improvement from his troops as the second period got underway.

Once again Ngog was the man who came close to breaking the deadlock just seconds after the restart but his looping header was comfortably gathered by Hennessey.

The Frenchman seemed hungry to add to his tally of eight for the season and came within a whisker of turning home the opener on 48 minutes when he swept Johnson's teasing pass just wide of the near post.

Wolves responded and Ronald Zubar's smart turn and shot was well held by Pepe Reina, who was looking to mark his 200^th appearance in the Barclays Premier League with another shut-out.

However, it wasn't to be for the Spaniard as the visitors stunned Anfield with a well-worked goal on 56 minutes.

Sotirios Kyrgiakos could only knock a long ball down into the path of Ebanks-Blake who played a delightful first-time pass towards Ward. The midfielder showed the Reds defence a clean pair of heels before stabbing a low shot beyond the advancing Reina and into the far corner of the net.

It was a goal that clearly knocked the hosts' confidence and they were grateful to a last-ditch challenge from Johnson on 63 minutes after Ward had looked set to double his tally following a mix-up in the Liverpool defence.

As the clock ticked down it was the visitors who continued to pose all the questions and the home side offered little as the Midlands outfit eased to a surprise victory.

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