“It was a difficult day,” Benitez insisted, despite his side’s dominance, for Tomasz Kuszczak, the West Brom goalkeeper, had an inspired game. “We did everything we possibly could to win but found it almost impossible to score. The goalkeeper must have played the game of his life.”
It was Kewell’s cross early in the second half, just as it began to seem that West Brom just would not be broken down, that presented Crouch with his chance to score. The delivery was good but the England striker still had much to do. He manoeuvred himself perfectly into the near-post position and headed the ball into the space between Kuszczak’s outstretched hand and the right upright. “I said before that he’s playing well,” Benitez said of Crouch. “Now he’s scoring goals and this is good for him and good for us as a team.”
West Brom were poor, particularly in midfield, their inability to gain possession and keep it placing too much pressure on their defenders. Gerrard began their long ordeal with a backheel to Kewell which opened up Albion’s nervous back line. When the ball came back to Gerrard he over-hit his pass to John Arne Riise. The respite for West Brom was brief. Curtis Davies dispossessed Riise and beat Sami Hyypia before striding down the right flank.
His cross was met by Jamie Carragher before a courageous block by Gerrard on Darren Carter’s shot.
From then on it was almost all Liverpool. Kewell struck a powerful drive which Kuszczak managed to tip over. Then Djibril Cisse whipped in a low cross which came to Kewell, whose shot was brilliantly saved by Kuszczak again.
Liverpool’s dominance was simply overwhelming. They were passing the ball about with ease. But good fortune, desperate defending and finally tired Liverpool legs came to West Brom’s rescue. A Gerrard corner fell for Riise who took aim from the left side of the penalty area and shot through a clutter of bodies against the foot of the post. Beaten for once, Kuszczak scrambled across goal and produced another excellent save to deny Kewell’s point-blank effort on the rebound.
Alonso was moving the ball to the flanks, creating space for Gerrard’s marauding runs. Their fluid interplay created a chance when Alonso took possession in the centre circle and Gerrard surfaced on the edge of the penalty area, played a one-two with Cisse and fired a shot which Kuszczak blocked.
Physically and mentally, Liverpool were tiring, a consequence of the crazy congestion of games. But it was also down to the frustration of their superiority yielding so little. Then Crouch made his clinical intervention and Anfield breathed a sigh of relief.
West Brom did not have a single shot on target in the game but Kuszczak continued to defend a fruitless cause. Riise fired a cannonball free kick through the West Brom wall and Kuszczak made another outstanding save. He even denied Crouch before the end after Cisse outstripped Paul Robinson for pace and delivered a cross to the back post for the big striker to head. This time Kuszczak saved with his legs.
The opposition was weak but Liverpool were good. Like so many victories before, this one was based on tight defending and a potent attack. Not since they were beaten 4-1 by Chelsea on October 2 have Liverpool conceded a Premiership goal at Anfield.
“We couldn’t keep the ball and that’s why Liverpool put us under so much pressure,” said West Brom manager Bryan Robson.
Benitez’s response to the lack of New Year Honours was: “I do not understand.” His supporters were left wondering the same about the scoreline.