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Florian Wirtz scored his first goal for Liverpool during the Premier League win over Wolves on Saturday, and Virgil van Dijk reflected on an important moment for the summer signing
Virgil van Dijk was pleased for Florian Wirtz after the German scored his first goal for Liverpool during Saturday's Premier League win over Wolves.
The German's general level of play has been improving of late, and it was always only ever going to be a matter of time before he started scoring and assisting with regularity.
Wirtz latched onto a through ball from Hugo Ekitike before finding the back of the net, and Van Dijk was pleased to see his teammate break his duck – although he did mention that he thinks Wirtz needs to work on his stamina.
"He's getting more used to the intensity and the way we play. He's very important on the ball and obviously his qualities there is no debate about," Van Dijk said.
READ MORE: Virgil van Dijk shows true colors after emotional moment with Diogo Jota's familyREAD MORE: Florian Wirtz's reaction to first Liverpool goal proves why he'll be a success at Anfield"We are very pleased for him, but he should be very pleased with the goal as well. I think after 60 minutes or something he was quite tired so that's something he and we have to work on as well in order to do that every three days for 90 minutes."
Wirtz's goal came just a minute after Ryan Gravenberch had opened the scoring shortly before half-time, and at that stage it looked as though Liverpool would go on and win comfortably.
However, a poor second-half showing followed, with Wolves pulling a goal back through Santiago Bueno before threatening to equalize for the remainder of the game.
Liverpool ultimately held on to claim all three points, and Van Dijk spoke of the importance of claiming a win despite the team not playing well.
"Unfortunately we conceded the goal quite early on [in the second half] and that gives them a big boost and some momentum for them to crack on," Van Dijk added.
"I think we played a very, very good first half and [scored] two good goals. [In] possession we were good, defensively we were solid and [had] no problems. Obviously they would come out with a lot more pressure [in the second half] and we have to try and do the same things, which [is what] we said at half-time.
"Unfortunately, we couldn't do that, but obviously that's also part of how Wolves did that. Overall, we found a way and that is key, especially in the season and in the moment where we are and where we have a lot of injuries and players missing. It's not an excuse for the second half, but obviously it's good that we got the win and that's very important."
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