The manic reaction would not have looked out of place in the Sunday amateur leagues. Jürgen Klopp responded to Divock Origi’s 95th minute equaliser by beating his chest in front of the West Bromwich Albion bench, eyeballing Tony Pulis and leading Liverpool’s players in triumphant applause to the Kop. “Sometimes it takes more than a few seconds to cool down,” he explained. With the heartbeat slowed, the reality of Liverpool’s weaknesses in defence will not have escaped their overexuberant manager.
Klopp’s refusal to shake hands with Pulis after the final whistle and wild celebration of a point salvaged at home in stoppage time reflected a tense, ugly encounter at Anfield. Animosity built between the Liverpool manager and the Albion bench from the moment Dejan Lovren was taken off on a stretcher as a consequence of Craig Gardner’s dangerous challenge. It erupted spectacularly when the substitute Origi spared Liverpool a second successive Premier League defeat with a deflected goal and Klopp revelled in the visitors’ misfortune.
Klopp said: “We conceded from two set pieces. I don’t know how many of our goals are from set pieces but it feels like 98%. They only play long balls and only want set plays. Maybe the crowd were disappointed but they didn’t show it. It was only one point but it felt like three, an explosion. It was the best atmosphere in my time in England, absolutely great and I wanted to say thank you. Sometimes a point deserved in the right way is more important for the development of the style of play against a team like this. To stay in the game, that is a big moment in football. I really enjoyed this game, I enjoyed the atmosphere with my whole body.”
Klopp’s assessment glossed over Liverpool’s lack of creativity against a towering Albion defence and the instability that Simon Mignolet’s goalkeeping continues to spread throughout his back-line. The German coach had warned Liverpool of Albion’s strength at set pieces but two Chris Brunt corners yielded goals for Craig Dawson and Jonas Olsson, after Jordan Henderson had given the home side a merited lead, while Olsson had another effort disallowed for offside from Gardner’s free-kick.
Liverpool controlled the early stages, their willingness to mix the direct approach with the intricate work of Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana paying dividends. Coutinho played a quick, diagonal cross into the penalty area where Lallana of all people leapt above Brunt to head into the path of the incoming Henderson. The Liverpool captain marked his first league start since August with a sweeping finish beyond Boaz Myhill from close range. Pulis would have appreciated the style of the breakthrough had he not been on the receiving end.
Albion levelled when Brunt swept an inviting corner to the back of the six-yard box. Mignolet came for the cross but fatally did not collect, waving at thin air as the ball struck Salomón Rondón and Nathanial Clyne and dropped for Dawson to convert beyond the despairing challenge of James Milner. Klopp claimed: “I said to Simon at half-time: ‘If somebody says it was your fault, it is not true, it is my fault. I want a keeper who comes out and tries for everything.’”
The Belgium keeper almost gifted Pulis’s team a second goal when attempting to keep a Dawson cross in play and finding only James McClean. He survived on that occasion and when Olsson volleyed home from Gardner’s free-kick, he was eventually given offside by an assistant referee who did not raise his flag.
The second half developed into an increasingly bruising encounter that left Klopp raging at the Albion bench when Lovren was injured by a sickening tackle from Gardner. The midfielder won the ball in a 50-50 with the Croatian defender but followed through with a studs-first challenge that buckled Lovren’s knee. Liverpool’s central defender was carried off with his knee in a brace and an oxygen mask on his face. Gardner was not booked.
Moments earlier Olsson had given the visitors the lead with a glancing header from Brunt’s corner to the near-post. Myhill saved well from Lallana and the substitute Jordon Ibe went close as Liverpool pressed for an equaliser that arrived five minutes into eight minutes of stoppage time. Origi had been summoned from the bench when Lovren departed and Klopp’s boldness was rewarded as the striker’s shot deflected off Gareth McAuley and sailed beyond the wrong-footed Myhill. Cue bedlam in the technical area.
“He has got to do what he has got to do,” was Pulis’s diplomatic take on the finale. “I am more disappointed about the way they came back to make it 2-2. The great thing about this league is, irrespective of all the money, power and talent that clubs like Liverpool have, smaller clubs will come here and have a go and that is what we have done.”
Man of the match Darren Fletcher (West Bromwich Albion)
