This was anything but pretty at times and will not take up much space on an end-of-season highlights reel, but all that matters for Liverpool right now is that they have rediscovered the art of grinding out victories away from home and are tightening their grip on a top-four finish in the process.
Hot on the heels of their impressive win at Stoke last weekend, which was their first in the Premier League on the road this year, Liverpool clinched another precious three points away from Anfield and once again Roberto Firmino made the telling contribution.
The parallels with Liverpool’s triumph at Stoke did not end there, however, as Simon Mignolet, who produced a couple of outstanding saves against Mark Hughes’s team, made another vital intervention against Albion by denying Matt Phillips as the winger broke through on goal with only 10 minutes remaining.
Tony Pulis had his head in his hands as Mignolet saved and the Albion manager must have felt like doing the same when Liverpool took the lead in first-half injury‑time. Scoring from set-pieces is supposed to be Albion’s forte, and defending them Liverpool’s achilles heel, yet the tables were turned here as Firmino, via a flick on from Lucas, headed in James Milner’s wide free-kick.
It was the Brazilian’s 11th Premier League goal of the season and provided the defining moment in a match that only really came to life in the closing stages as Albion desperately pushed for an equaliser at one end and Alberto Moreno squandered a wonderful chance for Liverpool to put the game to bed at the other.
With Ben Foster caught upfield trying to score – Pulis made it clear to his goalkeeper afterwards that he never wants to see that again – Liverpool broke away and Moreno had options to his left and right. The substitute chose to go it alone, however, and stroked a 40-yard shot the wrong side of the post. It was tempting to wonder what Klopp’s reaction would have been had Albion scored when they pumped the ball into the Liverpool area moments later.
Mignolet, though, was able to deal with the danger, punching clear at a time when his team needed him most, and shortly afterwards Klopp was jumping around on the touchline to celebrate a hugely important three points. “I hope you’re not surprised,” Liverpool’s manager said, when asked about his reaction at the final whistle.
“This is one of the most difficult places to go because you can’t feel comfortable in one moment of the game. You need to be on the highest concentration level. But we have been actually. For us it was very important because showing this concentration level until the end didn’t work each week in the last few months, but today it was really good.”
Klopp was reminded of the fact that Pulis, during spells in charge at Stoke, Crystal Palace and Albion, had never lost a home match against Liverpool before, yet maybe everything was in place here for that eight-match unbeaten sequence to end. Albion have enjoyed an excellent season and are still eighth, but there are signs that things are tailing off now that they have passed the 40-point barrier. They have failed to score in four consecutive Premier League matches for the first time since 2003.
“Missed chances,” Pulis said, when asked to explain that disappointing record. “We’ve had three really good opportunities where I would have expected to score, but you can’t criticise the players. My one disappointment about our performance was the first 20 minutes of the second half. And they scored bang on half-term, a goal that we’re disappointed with because we think [Craig] Dawson was fouled. But we’ve still got to defend better.”
Firmino was certainly grappling with Dawson prior to breaking free and stooping to head past Foster, although the chances are that Pulis would have expected the goal to stand if the same thing had happened at the other end. What is clear is that it was an awful time for Albion to concede.
Up until that point, the home team had frustrated Liverpool and restricted them to one decent opportunity, when Firmino dragged a low shot inches wide after Philippe Coutinho intercepted Claudio Yacob’s careless pass. Albion, who were playing mainly on the counter-attack, had looked certain to score earlier on through Nacer Chadli until Firmino got the faintest of touches to prevent the Belgian from side-footing home. Hal Robson-Kanu later shot tamely into Mignolet’s arms.
Despite those first-half scares, Liverpool dominated possession and ought to have doubled their lead when Milner profligately volleyed Firmino’s cross over the bar just before the hour mark. Then came that late Phillips opportunity for Albion, when Mignolet spread himself and stuck out a boot to block a shot that Pulis felt should have ended in the back of the Liverpool net.