Liverpool (2) West Bromwich Albion (1): Nothing But Nerves as Reds Down Baggies

We never looked comfortable holding a one goal lead with just under a half hour left to play, but it came as something of a surprise to see Liverpool hang on to beat West Bromwich Albion and claim their first win since demolishing Tottenham Hotspur at the end of August. Three points — finally.

It was a whole lot of the same for much of the first half until Adam Lallana and Jordan Henderson combined in stoppage time to send the Reds into the break with the lead and the former Southampton captain to the locker room with his first goal since moving to Anfield over the summer. Saido Berahino made no mistake from the spot after being gifted a penalty that never was, but Liverpool fought back with Raheem Sterling centering for Henderson to pass the ball through three Baggies players and into the net for the winner.

It was a seriously far cry from the 4-1 spanking we handed the West Midlands outfit last season, but you’ll catch very few Kopites complaining. With three points up on the board heading into the international break, we’re back in the right half of the table — something to smile about after the perma-frown brought on by September.

Things weren’t exactly looking up in the first half though; chances fell early on to both Sterling and Rickie Lambert, making a rare start for the benched Mario Balotelli, but neither could find the breakthrough as Liverpool’s blunt attack did little to trouble a compact West Bromwich Albion defense. Their central pairing of Craig Dawson and Joloen Lescott hardly looked bothered during the opening exchanges, though the bank of midfielders sitting in front of them did just as much to stem the tide as the Reds inability to conjure that all important final ball.

It was going to take a bit of magic to break the deadlock and Lallana duly obliged. The 26-year old has been going from strength to strength since returning from the knee injury that ruled out of much of Liverpool’s pre-season preparations, but a twist here, a feint there, a give and go that was capped off with a Henderson back heel allowed the midfielder to dance into the box for a second or two before finishing across the face of goal with his weaker foot.

Tip your hat to the haters, good sir.

Short of chopping him down and giving away a penalty, there was nothing that Alan Irvine’s side could have done to stop that sublime bit of footwork — which made it all the more disappointing when the lead was squandered so cheaply. To be fair, the Reds backline was playing fairly well. Alberto Moreno and Javier Manquillo were venturing forward, but getting back well to cover and the central pairing of Dejan Lovren and Martin Skrtel had yet to cause any cardiac episodes. All good things come to an end though and when Manquillo’s wasteful pass saw the Baggies launch a counter-attack, the Reds problems mushroomed when Lovren’s foul on Saido Berahino on the edge of the area was ruled to be inside the box; it was a close call, but never a penalty.

Alas, the youngster made no mistake when he fired past Simon Mignolet to restore parity, but then something strange happened — there was a response. Sterling, who looked to have actually been fouled in the penalty area by Gardner, saw his appeal waved away as referee Michael Oliver played advantage instead and the youngster regained his composure to center the ball for Henderson to fire past a stranded Ben Foster to regain the lead.

Mario Balotelli replaced Lambert. Glen Johnson returned from injury to give Manquillo a break and Philippe Coutinho made way for compatriot Lucas as Liverpool not only held on, but picked up the pace. With Gerrard pushed forward and Balotelli adding a bit of spice to the attack, the Reds looked even stronger on the front foot with the Italian coming closest to adding to a scoreline with a powerful shot from a tight angle that Foster did well to save at his near post. Rodgers wanted to see more from the 24-year old, and even though he didn’t register his first league goal, he did do quite a bit to warrant inclusion when Liverpool visit Queens Park Rangers in just over two week’s time.

It wasn’t as pretty as you’d like, but after going a month without a win in the league it was more than welcome — it was a relief. We’re not back to our best, and we won’t be for a while, but with Daniel Sturridge on the verge of returning and a number of the new players starting to mesh with the expectations that come with wearing the famous red shirt, three points will silence the doom-mongers and the nay-sayers for the time being.

We’ll have to see how long that lasts…

–Steven