In-form Kenny Miller rescued a priceless point for relegation fighters Wolves with a last-minute equaliser at Molineux as Liverpool's bid to qualify for the Champions League suffered a new setback.
Scottish international striker Miller took his tally to four goals in the last three games as he cancelled out Bruno Cheyrou's first-half strike for Liverpool.
In the process he helped Wolves extend their impressive home record that has seen them remain unbeaten at Molineux since September - a run of 11 games.
But Wolves will be cursing themselves that they did not take all three points as Steffen Iversen missed two gilt-edged chances.
Before Miller's last-gasp heroics, French international midfielder Cheyrou looked to have sealed three priceless points for Liverpool with a neatly-taken 43rd minute strike.
A win would have moved Liverpool to within two points of fourth-placed Charlton.
But Dave Jones' Wolves side once again showed their battling qualities to keep their bid to avoid relegation very much alive.
While Liverpool posed a constant threat in attack, Wolves should really have been the team who broke the deadlock when they wasted what turned out to be a crucial opportunity after just seven minutes.
A long centre from Lee Naylor picked out Iversen who fed a pass into the path of Miller.
When the loose ball broke back to Iversen he was faced with just Jerzy Dudek to beat but the Liverpool keeper pulled off a smart save to beat away the Norwegian international's close-range shot.
It proved a let-off that Liverpool were to take full advantage of but they had to wait until two minutes before half-time to make their pressure pay.
They were twice denied by Michael Oakes, who did well to frustrate Cheyrou and Michael Owen, while Emile Heskey also sliced wide from close range.
Liverpool's dominance finally paid a deserved dividend when Wolves were undone by a by a right-wing cross from Steve Finnan.
His centre flashed across the face of goal to Cheyrou who had the simple task of lifting the ball past Oakes and into the far corner of the net.
Predictably, Wolves did launch a spell of sustained pressure in the second half only to again be undone by the poor finishing of Iversen.
After Naylor and Colin Cameron had tested Dudek from long range, Iversen was presented with the simplest of chances after 66 minutes.
Miller flicked on a cross from Cameron and Iversen found himself unmarked, with the ball at his feet, three yards from goal with only Dudek in front of him.
The former Tottenham marksman then somehow ballooned his shot over the bar before holding his head in his hands in despair.
His second bad miss looked set to sentence Wolves to a heartbreaking defeat and substitute Danny Murphy was inches away from sealing their fate when his 86th minute shot crashed off the base of the post after he had been set up by Owen.
But a late spell of intense Wolves pressure earned them a share of the spoils.
Wolves forced two quick corners and following the first one a mass melee erupted after Wolves skipper Paul Ince felt he had been fouled.
All Wolves had to show for their protests was a second corner but Liverpool failed to deal with the cross and when Irwin fired another centre to the far post Miller was able to beat Dudek with a low angled drive.