West Brom 0-0 Liverpool

West Brom 0-0 Liverpool



In the end it was a game that confirmed to Brendan Rodgers what he already knew. With Luis Suárez long gone and Daniel Sturridge absent once again, Liverpool are unrecognisable from the team that swept opponents aside last season and it is easy to see why the manager talked on the eve of this match about signing a consistent goalscorer who can perform “at a top level every week”.

Making his first league start in five months, Mario Balotelli showed why he is not that man on a day when Steven Gerrard’s 500th Premier League appearance for Liverpool turned into something of a non-event. Only the third player to reach that landmark for a single club, Gerrard spent the afternoon patrolling the area in front of the back four and watching Liverpool outplay Albion without doing enough to penetrate a typically obdurate Tony Pulis team.

The closest Liverpool came to a breakthrough was when Jordon Ibe rattled the crossbar in the 63rd minute, otherwise there was plenty of huffing and puffing but not much refinement. One last throw of the dice saw Gerrard swing a diagonal ball towards Dejan Lovren, whose header, from about eight yards out, flashed the wrong side of the upright. Faint hopes of a top-four finish may well have been extinguished with that moment.

At least the second half was an improvement on what went before. With little tempo to the game, the opening 45 minutes felt more like a pre-season friendly. Liverpool were dominant in terms of keeping the ball – the visitors had 79% of possession in the first 25 minutes alone – but devoid of ideas when it came to how to break Albion down. Gerrard whipped a free-kick narrowly over the bar and Balotelli chanced his arm with a volley from 20 yards out that also failed to hit the target but that was the sum total of Liverpool’s goal threat in that period despite pinning Albion back for long periods.

As for the home team, their forays forward in the first half could be described as sporadic at best. Albion’s best chance came via a miss-hit Craig Gardner shot in the sixth minute, with Victor Anichebe unable to adjust his body quickly enough to turn the ball towards goal.

At least things livened up early in the second half. Liverpool had three bites at the cherry in the space of a few seconds in the 56th minute, with Boaz Myhill denying Philippe Coutinho and Jordan Henderson after Balotelli’s effort had been blocked during a skirmish in the Albion area.

At the other end, Chris Brunt escaped on the left and dug out a deep centre that Gardner, arriving at pace at the back post, volleyed into the side-netting. Liverpool, though, were continuing to control the game and came desperately close to scoring in the 63rd minute. Ibe swapped passes with Balotelli, darted into the area and struck a rising left-footed shot that cannoned off the top of the crossbar.

Finally there was an ebb and flow to the match. Callum McManaman, on for the ineffective Anichebe, made an instant impact with a cross from the right that caused consternation in the Liverpool defence. Martin Skrtel failed to deal with the ball as it bounced up awkwardly and Morrison, only six yards out, climbed to head back across goal. Simon Mignolet looked to have just got his fingertips to the ball, with Lovren, stationed behind the Liverpool goalkeeper, hacking clear.

In the closing quarter of an hour, Balotelli made way for Fabio Borini as Rodgers tried to inject some fresh life into Liverpool. Gerrard shot tamely at Myhill, Mignolet stuck out a boot to deny McManaman and Lovren had that late chance in a lively finale as Albion dug in and held on for a point.

Guardian