Smash and Grab

Liverpool 0 - 2 West Bromwich Albion
Monday 11th February 2013

You've got to hand it to West Brom - that was a classic example of the old smash and grab.

Liverpool players' reaction to West Brom's opener

At Anfield on Monday night they were faced with a continuous probing attack from a spirited, in-form Liverpool side, and defended their goal solidly through an inspired performance by Ben Foster. They offered precious little going forward in the first half but were canny enough to make the Reds pay on the rare occasions when they managed a shot on goal.

In fact, McAuley's goal in the 81st minute was only their second shot on target, and when Lukaku capped his cameo appearance with the second goal (89), the entire Kop were left to collectively wonder just what the hell had happened. Liverpool dominated the statistics for shots (16-4), corners (13-5) and possession (58%-42%), but failed to turn their superiority into goals, and were made to pay by their opponents.

It could have been so different.

Foster's penalty save was undoubtedly the turning point. Had Gerrard scored, like most of us believed he would, Liverpool probably would have gone on to score at least one more, and eventually run out as comfortable winners. As it often does, the team under the kosh gets a massive lift from seeing their keeper save a pen, and suddenly they seize the initiative and end up winning the match.

You can't fault Gerrard for the miss as it was a good save from Foster. On another day he might have dived in the opposite direction and we would have been cheering at the sight of Stevie reeling away to celebrate in front of the Kop. In all honesty, the entire team were well below par, so no single player should be blamed for this shocker.

Before the match all the talk was about how Liverpool were the form team and should easily brush aside a West Brom team on a winless streak. Nobody expected the away team to spring a surprise, which only made the result that much harder to take for the ardent home fans.

It was a disappointing night for the Reds, but we should give credit where credit is due; Ben Foster did not deserve to be on the losing side after his brilliant performance, although I would agree that a draw probably would have been a fairer result.

Still, there are another 36 points up for grabs before the final whistle blows on the 2012-2013 season, so plenty of time for Liverpool to make up for this one.

#YNWA