Steven Gerrard seems homeward bound having posted what reads as a farewell message to LA Galaxy on Instagram and who can blame the former Liverpool captain for swapping the California sunshine for autumn on Merseyside? He must long to be part of what Jürgen Klopp has created at Anfield in his absence.
One year to the day since Klopp’s first home game as Liverpool manager his side moved level on points with Premier League leaders Arsenal courtesy of an unnecessarily hard-fought win over West Bromwich Albion.
The stadium announcer declared Liverpool top after the full-time whistle. A mistake but his excitement was understandable.
Liverpool required victory by a two-goal margin to go top of the Premier League for the first time since May 2014 but another set-piece goal against put that ambition on hold. Another win is what counts and another impressive attacking display provided it, Sadio Mané and Philippe Coutinho scoring two excellent first-half goals before Gareth McAuley reduced the arrears and Liverpool’s league position.
“Who wants to be on top in October?” said Klopp, exuding the calm assurance he will get there eventually. “That was a little bit of a joke. We have 20 points. It was not possible that we get any more tonight. When you play like this, it is really difficult to be kind of satisfied with football games. 2-1 keeps you more awake than 4-0.
“Maybe we are not experienced enough in a situation like this to feel it could be easy. It is not easy. You need luck, the players fit. I have absolutely no problem with the goal we conceded. I would like to have it that nobody can score against us but first we have to have it that nobody can create chances. We have improved that.”
Liverpool overcame an assured Albion start and some wayward passing of their own to take a commanding lead at the interval. They were utterly dominant for the first 25 minutes of the second half too only for Tony Pulis’s side to haul themselves back into the contest and unnerve Anfield through McAuley’s goal.
Even then Firmino and substitute Georginio Wijnaldum went close to restoring Liverpool’s two-goal advantage but, despite missing out on top spot, there was no blot on Klopp’s landscape. “In dreamland you always win four- or five-nil and the crowd can go earlier and people can do something more serious. But this game created one of the best atmospheres because it was exciting towards the end.”
The breakthrough left Klopp celebrating with right hand uppercuts in front of the main stand and stemmed from an innocuous source. The commanding Coutinho was about to receive a pass inside his own half from James Milner when, with an exquisite dummy, he took Darren Fletcher and Claudio Yacob out of the game and sent Emre Can into a dangerous attack.
“They had runners and we didn’t want to let that happen,” said Pulis. Can released Firmino down the left, he floated an inch-perfect cross over the head of Allan Nyom and there was Mané to volley home his fourth goal of the season. It was another example of the collective threat that Klopp cherishes in his teams, as his manic reaction testified.
Can was inches away from making it two when he stretched to meet Nathaniel Clyne’s inviting low cross from the right. The two-goal advantage that Liverpool sought was not long coming, however, as the visiting defence went into meltdown. Fletcher instigated the problems with an awkward back pass towards Ben Foster that his goalkeeper sliced skywards.
The former Manchester United midfielder was beaten by Can in the air as he attempted to clear up the mess and Mané set Coutinho free on the left. Liverpool’s No10 had plenty to do but, with another telling drop of the shoulder, he sent Craig Dawson and McAuley sliding out of the equation and drilled a fine finish inside Foster’s near post.
Firmino, Dejan Lovren and Can all came close to a third in the second half, Foster denying the Brazilian and the Croat and Jonas Olsson thwarting the German international with a full body block.
Albion’s unlikely comeback should have started with 20 minutes to go but Nacer Chadli sliced horribly wide with the goal at his mercy from a Chris Brunt corner. Pulis’s introduction of Brunt and James Morrison eventually paid dividends as the visitors forced Liverpool back and, with nine minutes remaining, the Northern Ireland international’s corner dropped for McAuley to volley beyond Loris Karius at close range.
Liverpool responded well and the merits of victory were not in dispute. “Their front five is as good as any in the league,” said the Albion manager. “With no Europe this year they have a free run at it. They’ve got a great chance this year.”
