Liverpool had been three matches without a victory, but West Ham proved more obliging opposition than any of Aston Villa, West Ham and Everton, going down 2-1 at Anfield and allowing the Reds to arrest their slide down the table.
3 things we learned from Liverpool’s 2-1 victory against West Brom
Clive Brunskill
It wasn't exactly the easiest first half for Liverpool. They started brightly but had trouble forcing the West Brom defence open, spurning their chances even when they did arrive. And the energy used in that start took its toll -- by the midpoint of the period the visitors were finding their feet and starting to seriously threaten on the counterattack, with Saido Berahino causing real problems to the Reds' back line.
Just as it seemed as though we'd go into the break scoreless, the combination of Adam Lallana and Jordan Henderson struck to give the hosts a lead. It should have been an impossible situation -- the pair were at the top of the box surrounded by West Brom defenders, but Lallana forced a pass through to Henderson, who snapped it around the corner with a backheel to set up the shot. Despite the tight angle, Lallana made no mistake, beating Ben Foster at his far post for his first Liverpool goal.
But that lead only lasted ten minutes. The Baggies, unperturbed by going down 1-0, made a sprightly start to the second half, and although they didn’t look too threatening they still put enough pressure on Liverpool to grab a very odd penalty. Javi Manquillo coughed up the ball, which swiftly arrived at Berahino’s feet, and although Dejan Lovren clumsily hacked him down just outside the box, Michael Oliver pointed to the spot anyway. Berahinho duly thumped past Simon Mignolet to make it 1-1.
West Brom had barely finished celebrating their goal by the time they were pegged back again. Raheem Sterling rushed into the box before being hauled down by Craig Gardner, but while everyone froze up and waited for Oliver to make a penalty call, Sterling jumped back to his feet and cut the ball back for Henderson, whose first-time shot trundled past Foster and in to reestablish Liverpool’s advantage.
This time they didn’t give it up.
Liverpool starting lineup (4-3-3): Simon Mignolet; Alberto Moreno, Martin Skrtel, Dejan Lovren, Javi Manquillo (Glen Johnson 64'); Philippe Coutinho (Lucas Leiva 75'), Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson; Raheem Sterling, Rickie Lambert (Mario Balotelli 64'), Adam Lallana.
Goals: Lallana 45’, Henderson 61’.
WBA starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Ben Foster; Sébastien Pocognoli, Joleon Lescott, Craig Dawson, Cristian Gamboa; James Morrison (Sebastián Blanco 81'), Craig Gardner; Chris Brunt (Giorgos Samaras 86'), Stephane Sessegnon, Graham Dorrans (Youssuf Mulumbu 70'); Saido Berahino.
Goals: Berahino p56’
3 things
- Dropping Mario Balotelli -- at least for now -- was the right choice. It's still far too early to imagine that Liverpool's big centre forward won't come good, but it's obvious that he isn't in the right sort of form to arrest the Reds' early-season slide. Balotelli's movement is unorthodox -- he likes to play deeper than most centre forwards, and without Daniel Sturridge to partner him Liverpool haven't fielded anyone who've exploited the space Balotelli creates by dropping back.
Lambert, meanwhile, provides a focal point for Liverpool's wide forwards to play off and remains a constant threat in the box as well as a better out ball up top. He's obviously nowhere near as talented as Balotelli, and it's on Rodgers to work out how best to fit the Italian into the Liverpool squad, but for now, starting Lambert seems the correct call, even if he's not exactly lighting the world on fire either. At the very least, it takes some of the heat off Balotelli, who looked in far better form when he came on as a substitute.
- West Brom aren't afraid of anyone. The Baggies had a rough start to their Premier League season, demonstrating relegation form for their first few games, but have bounced back in a big way, and they're hardly low on confidence: going into Anfield with a double pivot of James Morrison and Craig Gardner while the significantly more defensie pair of Claudio Yacub and Youssuf Mulumbu sit on the bench is a brave, brave call. And a probably crazy one as well -- West Brom's defence was frequently forced to make up for errors in midfield, and they'd have been far more secure had they used a more sensible pairing.
- Jordan Henderson is a delight. Well, I suppose we knew this already. Henderson has never had the respect he deserves at Liverpool, but he's obviously the driving force in their midfield now, and he made a major impact on the game today. His creative side emerged just before halftime with the clever backheel to play in Adam Lallana for the opening goal, and his sense of timing and unerring finish was enough to win the game for the hosts just after they'd been pegged back by Berahino's penalty. Add those qualities to his standard toolkit of midfield-dynamoness and it's clear who's carrying this team. It's not their captain.
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