Liverpool FC 2-2 West Brom – Post-match reaction

Liverpool managed to snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat against West Bromwich Albion at Anfield yesterday. A deflected Divock Origi injury time effort was enough to cancel out Jonas Olsson’s second half header and salvage a point for the hosts. 

Jürgen Klopp pulled no surprises in his selection with the usual back four of Alberto Moreno, Dejan Lovren, Martin Skrtel and Nathaniel Clyne behind a defensive midfield pairing of Emre Can and captain Jordan Henderson making his first Premiership start since returning from injury. An attacking forward line of Philippe Coutinho, Adam Lallana and James Milner supported Christian Benteke. 

The home side started brightly as one would expect and took the lead after 20 minutes when Henderson latched onto Lallana’s headed flick on from Coutinho’s pinpoint early cross. The team looked to be in the ascendancy until the habitual defensive frailties came to the fore yet again. 

Mignolet’s poor attempt to punch away a Baggies corner was duly punished by Craig Dawson who was on hand to stab home an equaliser amid the ensuing goalmouth scramble. 1-1 and all of Liverpool’s early good work undone in very predictable fashion. The hosts could have fallen further behind when Olsson’s cheeky back-heeled goal, again from a set piece, was belatedly but nonetheless correctly ruled out for offside. 

In the second half, Liverpool continued to press and harrass their the West Midlanders  in search of a winner as Lovren went close early on. After 73 minutes however, the hosts conceded again from… Yes you guessed it, a set piece. Another Chtis Brunt corner swung in from the hosts left –  Olsson again was on hand to bundle the ball home to put the visitors ahead and the Reds chasing a game they should to be fair, have been out of sight in.   Henderson, Benteke both went close as Liverpool laid siege to the West Brom goal. Lallana missed a clear cut chance when put through on goal by Benteke but Boaz Myhill rushed out to snuff out the danger. Shortly after Lovren suffered an horrendous gash to his right leg after colliding with Craig Gardner that subsequently lead to the Croatian being stretchered off and an animated discussion between the two managers. 

As luck and endeavour would have it,  Origi on for Lovren saved the team’s blushes. Latching onto a Henderson’s pass, the young Belgian was initially bundled over but retained his balance and momentum to send a modest shot towards goal which with the help of a deflection, floated past the despairing Myhill. 2-2 and the watching Kop went wild with relief and joy. 

After the match, Klopp took his team to take a bow in front of the Kop which I thought was a nice touch. Considering their ineptitude on the pitch, the least they could do was thank the crowd for putting on what was after all, a great atmosphere throughout. 

Klopp acknowledged after the game that his team need to do better when defending set pieces. Rather like pointing out that Spanish is spoken in Spain. An expert on the bleeding obvious! The patchy home form continues. It seems that your average outfit from Hackney Marshes could sneak a result at Anfield right now. The defending really is that poor. 

Despite the manager’s claim that there will be likely no business in January, a commanding centre half must be worth looking at on the basis of this performance. Mamadou Sakho remains injured and will now be joined in the treatment room by Lovren. Perhaps it’s even time to give Adam Bogdan a run in the side given Mignolet’s insistence on playing with butter on his gloves. Watch this space. 

Follow us on Twitter: @TheLFCFile