West Bromwich Albion stunned Liverpool with two late goals to put an end to a run of eight games without a win this evening.
The Baggies actually failed to register a shot on goal until the final 10 minutes but nicked the win thanks to Gareth McAuley's header and Romelu Lukaku's smart turn-and-finish.
Liverpool had the perfect opportunity to go ahead before all of this when Jonas Olsson was adjudged to have shoved Luis Suarez in the box, but Steven Gerrard saw his penalty saved by Ben Foster.
Here, Sports Mole pores over a bit of an Anfield headscratcher.
Match statistics:
Liverpool:
Shots 23
On target 14
Possession 57%
Corners 13
Fouls 9
West Brom:
Shots 4
On target 3
Possession 43%
Corners 5
Fouls 9
Was the result fair?
As you can see from the stats, West Brom didn't have anywhere near as many shots as Liverpool and the four that they did have came in the final 10 minutes. However, the Baggies took their chances unlike the home side. If Liverpool had won the game then you would have said that they definitely deserved it.
Liverpool's performance
They were okay until the final 20 minutes when they moved up a gear or two. Suarez won a questionable penalty and you would have expected Gerrard to score. Take nothing away from Foster though, it wasn't a bad penalty but an excellent save. Defensively Liverpool didn't allow a shot until the final stages but when they did it had to be saved for a corner and from the set piece McAuley was given a free run at the ball to thump a header home.
West Brom's performance
The Baggies went into this game bottom of the form guide and extremely low on confidence. Steve Clarke was able to welcome back Youssouf Mulumbu though and he joined his favourite hustling partner Claudio Yacob to break up many an attack. Foster was immense in goal and rightly wins our man-of-the-match award (see below). Lukaku was also a beast when introduced and he was able to hold onto the ball and not allow Liverpool to completely bombard the goal.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Ben Foster: The West Brom keeper didn't have much to deal with in the opening 45 but was tested much more regularly after the break. He did well to keep out Jordan Henderson's clever flick before producing arguably the save of the season to stop Gerrard's volley from flashing into the net. This was then all capped off by an excellent one-handed save from Gerrard's firm penalty to the bottom corner.
Biggest gaffe
This could have gone to Steven Reid if his inadvertent ricochet had gone into his own net, not just over the bar in the first half but we have to give it to Gerrard for squandering the spot kick chance to put his side ahead.
Referee performance
Jon Moss was having a solid game until he awarded Liverpool an extremely soft penalty. Olsson did make contact with the back of Suarez but it was never enough to warrant a foul.
What next?
Liverpool: Next up for the Reds is a tough trip to Zenit St. Petersburg in the last 32 of the Europa League on Thursday.
West Brom: The Baggies will look to continue this upturn in form when Sunderland visit the Hawthorns on Saturday.
Pascal Lemesre
