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| Charlie Adam fires home from the penalty spot for the opener |
Andy Carroll and Charlie Adam were on target as Liverpool extended their unbeaten run to 7 games with a dominant 2-0 victory over West Brom on Saturday evening.
Record signing Carroll bagged his third of the campaign on the stroke of half time, finishing tidily into the bottom corner. Charlie Adam had earlier put The Reds in front with a 9th minute penalty.
The result moves Dalglish’s men up to 5th, just one point away from 3rd placed Chelsea.
Roy Hodgson was up against his successor and was hoping for the same result, which saw the Reds go down in defeat in April last season.
The team news was fuelled with speculation, social networking sites went over drive with rumours that Steven Gerrard had picked up yet another injury along with Jamie Carragher. This was believed to be the case with manager Kenny Dalglish confirming fans’ fears. However Luis Suarez had shaken off an ankle injury sustained in the midweek Carling cup-tie at Stoke to feature in the starting line up alongside Andy Carroll. Lucas had returned from his one match ban against Norwich to partner Charlie Adam in the centre of midfield.
Liverpool had again started on the front foot. Within a minute Jose Enrique launched a pinpoint pass finding Luis Suarez in acres of space in front of the goal, but uncharacteristically the Uruguayan’s touch deserted him.
He was then involved again, setting up Charlie Adam on the edge of the area, but the Scotsman’s shot with his less favoured right foot flew several yards over the bar.
In recent games Liverpool had struggled to make an early break through after dominating but their persistence was rewarded with a spot kick in the 8th minute. Suarez linked up with Glen Johnson before being hurled to the ground by Jermone Thomas, the referee’s assistance waved for a foul, leaving Lee Mason with no choice but to point to the spot. The decision was greeted with several West Brom players expressing their displeasure towards the decision as well as the 25,000 home fans packed into the Hawthorns.
Charlie Adam stepped up to take the penalty and coolly slotted it away, sending ‘keeper Ben Foster the wrong way.
A one-goal lead was always dangerous to go by on by but Liverpool stamped their authority on the game. They retained the ball and were patient in possession. West Brom couldn’t match the fluidity of the Reds; they were second to every loose ball and adopted a deep approach, paying their opposition with a lot of respect.
The lead was almost extended to two, the flair and guile of Luis Suarez allowed him to burst down the right and delivered a searching cross for Andy Carroll who met it sweetly with his head, only for it to be blocked by what appeared to be Steven Reid’s arm. A penalty decision would’ve been harsh if given.
It seemed Luis Suarez was able to convert the difficult chances rather than the simpler ones. Martin Skrtel cleverly picked out Suarez from a resulting corner but the Uruguayan was only able to lift the ball over the bar from 8 yards out.
West Brom finally provided an attack of their own, but the Liverpool defence stood firm. Paul Scharner’s fierce long-range effort was well blocked by Slovakian Martin Skrtel.
A second goal would’ve provided Liverpool will the perfect cushion going into half time and it arrived just on the stroke of the break. A misplaced pass was seized upon by Lucas, delivering a crisp outside of the foot pass to Suarez on the right. The striker looked up and drilled an accurate ball to Andy Carroll, who fended off a defender and poked the ball into the back of the net.
The Suarez and Carroll partnership had now brought in 8 goals in 10 games. Plenty to get the Liverpool fans excited about.
After the break, West Brom were the same dejected side but their best chance of the game came courtesy of Somen Tchoyi. The Cameroon international found space on the edge of the area and shot across the face of Reina’s goal, with it only narrowly going wide.
At the other end Suarez was still in search of his first goal of the game. His inaccurate shots were the only thing stopping him on two occasions and on 57 minutes it appeared as he was going to get his reward after Andy Carroll neatly laid off Suarez, but his powerful drive was superbly blocked by Olsson.
Foster then kept out Jose Enrique, as his shot appeared to have been floating into the top corner. From the resulting corner Downing was left unmarked on the edge of the area, but his shot was well wide of the target.
Liverpool were again hampered by a combination of lack of finishing and opposition goal keeping brilliance. Andy Carroll came close to a second goal, but Ben Foster smartly saved his scissor kick shot on the edge of the box.
Downing was then close to getting his maiden goal in a red shirt but his powerful shot struck the post in injury time. This was the 10th time the woodwork had denied the Reds this season, four more than any other Premier League side.
My MOTM: I will shy away from the obvious catalyst in this Liverpool side and my Man of the Match vote goes to Lucas Leiva. The Brazilian was first to every loose ball and never let any of the West Brom attackers space on the ball, hunting them down viciously. He occasionally linked up front in attack but his tough tackling and sweeping up was badly missed against Norwich last week. Another great performance from the ever growing Lucas Leiva.
News Update: Earlier in the day Liverpool were drawn with a tricky visit to Chelsea in the ¼ finals of the Carling Cup. The draw has been harsh to Kenny Dalglish’s men, with away trips to Brighton and recently Stoke.
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