Reds unimpressive against ten-man West Brom

Liverpool 2 West Brom 0

Liverpool will say that they won and maintained their unbeaten Premiership record and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.

But with a serious European campaign already under way, Liverpool’s failure to resoundingly beat the 10 men of West Brom will only further underline the belief that the Anfield side are not what they were.

It was brave, committed, defiant Albion side that left Anfield with pride intact after making life tough for Liverpool from the moment goalkeeper Russell Hoult was sent off.

Hoult had to go for dragging down Michael Owen, but the struggling England striker could not even score from the spot with his weak penalty being blocked by stand-in keeper Joe Murphy.

Owen had been kept on the bench for the last two games because boss Gerard Houllier felt he was becoming too anxious about his scoring record – just one goal this season, ironically a penalty.

That Owen worked tremendously hard and helped create the decisive second goal in injury time for John Arne Riise will not lift the cloud hanging over him.

In fact, it hung over the whole Liverpool side, who toiled and struggled to make their numerical advantage tell and only had a Milan Baros goal – his third in two games – to show for their efforts until Riise’s late strike.

Coming after defeat in Valencia and before Wednesday’s home Champions League clash with Basle, Liverpool needed a bigger confidence booster than this.

The Valencia debacle forced Houllier to make changes with Owen back leading the attack, Baros alongside him and Stephane Henchoz returning to defence while Bruno Cheyrou – like Baros – made his full home debut.

Out went the Senegal pair of El Hadji Diouf and Salif Diao, along with full-back Djimi Traore and Emile Heskey.

Albion had not played at Anfield for 16 years and not won there for 35, but after three straight wins since returning to the Premiership, the Midlanders were full of confidence and certainly organised and efficient with a five-man defence and a midfield trio of Jason Koumas, Sean Gregan and Andy Johnson full of endeavour.

And they needed to be, because Liverpool’s quick moving, instant passing and mobile front six probed and searched for gaps early on, with some success.

Owen and Baros howed instant pace to worry the Albion backline, and the Midlanders were having trouble picking up Cheyrou in his floating role.

Cheyrou saw one shot saved by Hoult, produced a hooked volley that dipped over and saw another close-range effort bounce off the keeper.

Owen, perhaps benefiting from the rest, looked sharp of mind and body and saw one effort blocked by Larus Sigurdsson’s legs, while after a superb flick to create the space, guided another shot inches wide of a post.

But after all that pressure, Albion broke clear and Scott Dobie headed a long ball down for Jason Roberts who, from 20 yards out, let fly with a fine drive on 27 minutes that forced Jerzy Dudek into a flying save.

But Albion were then reduced to 10 men after a mix-up between Hoult and Darren Moore, the defender leaving a 33rd-minute chip from Danny Murphy for the keeper.

Owen was onto the ball in a flash and took it round Hoult but was hauled down by the despairing keeper.

Referee David Elleray had the red card out instantly, and Albion had to bring on reserve stopper Joe Murphy and take off Dobie before the penalty could be taken.

Up stepped Owen but he failed to get enough power on his shot and ex-Tranmere youngster Murphy dived to his right to make a fine save with his first touch.

For Owen it was his second penalty miss of the season, having seen one saved at Aston Villa on the opening weekend of the campaign.

Albion felt they should have had a penalty on 40 minutes when Sami Hyypia’s challenge on Roberts in the box was deemed legal by Elleray, to the Albion striker’s amazement.

The second half saw Liverpool set out to unpick the barrier of bodies in front of them as Albion now packing their last third in a fight for survival.

Cheyrou saw one flicked effort bounce wide of the far post before Liverpool took the lead on 54 minutes.

Gerrard’s quick ball into the box from the right was met by the decisive run of Baros, who cleverly clipped a header over Murphy and into the top corner.

Owen, working tirelessly, was having no luck. On 57 minutes Murphy somehow flung his body in the way of a vicious right footer from the Liverpool hitman, just 10 yards out, following Danny Murphy’s pulled back cross.

Baros and Cheyrou both had further chances to settle the issue before Heskey came on for the young Czech.

Such was Albion’s spirit and effort, they felt able to take one last gamble and put on Lee Marshall for Igor Balis, which allowed Moore to scamper upfield to support Daniele Dichio and Roberts in an audacious bid to grab a point.

And they forced Liverpool to defend. Heskey ended up playing in central midfield at times, and Diao was brought on for Cheyrou to bring some defensive quality to midfield.

It was not until injury time that Liverpool settled things when Murphy, working for space on the right, saw his cross cleverly controlled by Owen and laid back for Riise to drill home.