But for Gareth McAuley’s late goal then Liverpool would have sat at the top of the Premier League for the first time since that night in south London in May 2014 some like to call “Cristanbul”, but as it was they fell just short of the summit for now.
It is only by virtue of goal difference that Arsenal remain above Liverpool, both level on 20 points, and yet it beggars belief that Jurgen Klopp’s team only won this game by a single goal. A winning margin of two goals would have put them on top in this, their 27th consecutive season without the league title, and yet somehow they found themselves occasionally hanging on at the end in the face of a classic Tony Pulis bombardment.
For all but one West Bromwich Albion corner Klopp’s team were far too good for the away side who came with a determination to sit deep in defence and repel the quick passing and sharp running of the home side. They conceded two within 15 minutes of each other, the first was a beautifully worked goal for Sadio Mane, the second a moment of smart opportunism by Philippe Coutinho and it was a wonder there were not more in the second half.
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Liverpool were last on top of the Premier League when a point against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in that 3-3 comeback by the home side propelled them there but effectively ended the dream of a league title for Brendan Rodgers’ side. It was a reversal of the 2005 Istanbul narrative and a painful event from which the manager then never truly recovered in terms of his Anfield career.
This time Klopp will have worried that his side’s inability to put the game out of sight before McAuley rushed at a corner and found it drop at his feet in the area, might have cost them dearly. They had countless chances in the second half to finish the game but one way or another they passed them all up.
There was nothing more impressive than the execution of Liverpool’s two first half goals, ruthlessly finished on the two occasions when Tony Pulis’ team did not get that act together in time to shut down the firefly strikers of the home team’s attack.
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For the West Brom players it was a sobering reminder of what Pulis no doubt had told them many times during the week, that given the space they are capable of parlaying a small opening into an important goal. Pulis’ team had five in midfield, directed by Darren Fletcher, and hit it long to Salomon Rondon when they could.
Only once in the first half did they really lay a glove on Liverpool when Nacer Chadli, Rondon and Matty Phillips managed to work the ball forward before Joel Matip stepped smartly out with the ball and that was that. The Cameroon international looked extremely composed in the centre of defence alongside Dejan Lovren where the job in hand was to deal with Rondon’s appetite for the long balls sent forward to him.
The second goal originated with Ben Foster’s badly sliced clearance that went up rather than forward and to make matters worse was miscontrolled by Fletcher, who gave possession away to Mane. He found Coutinho in the left channel with much to do to get a sight of goal. He did so by selling Gareth McAuley and Craig Dawson an outrageous dummy that had them scrambling left while the Brazilian went right.
The job was completed with a Coutinho shot tucked in past Foster at his near post just a few seconds after the goalkeeper had miscued his clearance. The cost of a mistake against this Liverpool team proving to be high indeed.
The list of opportunities for Liverpool to score in the second half felt endless. The first was Coutinho’s dinked ball into Firmino when the expectation was that the No 10 would shoot instead. Firmino had that one saved and Foster did even better to push away Lovren’s header from a right-sided free-kick.
The best pass of the half was James Milner’s ball from deep inside his own half down the inside left channel which Coutinho ran onto and cut back to Can. The West Brom defender Jonas Olsson did extremely well to block, but even so, one of them should have gone in.
McAuley scored from a corner when it struck him on the shoulder and the ball dropped nicely for him to lash home at close range. The concern for Liverpool was obvious - that if they were asked to defend another corner they might just do the same again. At the other end they carried on missing chances: a Firmino shot blocked and than a shot wide from the substitute Georgino Wijnaldum.
As Klopp congratulated his players on the pitch afterwards the stadium announcer told the supporters that the club were top of the Premier League, which raised a cheer. Unfortunately for them they remain second although it is, their manager would surely agree, early days yet.
credit: telegraph
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