After last week’s heroics against Crystal Palace, the Reds were held to a frustrating 1-1 stalemate at home by basement side West Brom as Sam Allardyce became the first visiting manager to Anfield this season to walk away with a point.
Sadio Mane’s terrific opening goal was cancelled out late in the match by a towering header from Semi Ajayi before Roberto Firmino’s final effort on goal was palmed away in fantastic fashion by Sam Johnstone.
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MATCH PROCEEDINGS
The hosts controlled the tempo of the game early on and both full-backs, Arnold and Robertson, were on rhythm with their flurry of deliveries into the box.
Mohammad Salah could not get onto the end of a curling ball played through by Robertson as Klopp’s men pushed hard for the opener.
Liverpool FC’s dominance on the game was finally rewarded when a clever pass from Joel Matip found Sadio Mane in the penalty box, with the Senegalese forward executing a superb turn before slotting it past Johnstone.
Both Mane and Salah were handed opportunities to double their side’s advantage but the Liverpool FC pairing were not able to get the better of Johnstone once again.
Soon after the start of the second half, Gini Wijnaldum teed up skipper Jordan Henderson for a chance on goal but the latter’s effort was just inches wide from doubling Liverpool FC’s lead.
On the other end of the pitch, Alisson Becker was called into action in an urgent manner as a counter-attack from the visitors presented Karlan Grant with an opportunity to level the scoreline, however, the Liverpool FC No.1 was up to the task in dealing with Grant’s strike.
Alisson had to prevent another effort on goal from West Brom as Allardyce’s side sought to increase the pressure on the hosts in the final ten minutes of the Anfield showdown.
A short corner routine for the visitors gave Ajayi a chance to head the ball past Alisson in the 82nd minute as West Brom’s equaliser summed up what was truly a day off at home for the Merseysiders.
