Zoltan Gera (left) celebrates his opening goal against the Reds. (Reuters)
Well, it was only the first game of the new season for Liverpool, but that's not very encouraging when it goes as poorly as this one did. Certainly West Brom can be a tough place to play, but when you're a club like Liverpool, most folks are gonna figure you for at least a draw. The Baggies came out and hit Liverpool in the mouth though, out-muscling the Reds, particularly along the back line. Brendan Rodgers might want to address that issue.
West Brom really came out on the front foot, and it seemed to take Liverpool by surprise a bit. The Baggies seemed keen on not letting Liverpool get into the new passing strategy that the former Swansea boss wants to implement. They produced a couple of early chances as well, with Liam Ridgewell coming close with a drive in the 3rd minute and Shane Long missing a chip shot from an angle in the 9th.
After that Liverpool started to settle in some, and some flashes of Rodger's philosophy began to emerge as Liverpool took control of the possession stat. Unfortunately for the Reds, the ability to finish was nowhere to be seen. Luis Suarez in particular missed several good looks, though he did force an early save out of West Brom 'keeper Ben Foster in the 16th minute. Meanwhile Stewart Downing and Fabio Borini were less than inspiring. with the Italian attacker in particular looking very tame and rattled on his Liverpool debut.
West Brom finally took advantage of Liverool's rocky defense and inability to score shortly before halftime. In the 43rd minute Martin Skrtel looked to head a West Brom corner clear of danger, but it fell right to the Baggies' Zoltan Gera, who smashed a tremendous volley into the top of the net to make it 1-0 going into the interval.
The second half was pretty much the same as the first, for awhile. However it call came crashing down on Liverpool starting on the hour mark. Daniel Agger pushed Shane Long over in the penalty area in the 58th minute, not only resulting in a West Brom spot kick, but earning himself a red card for denying a goal scoring opportunity. Things looked a little brighter a minute later for Liverpool, when Long sent a weak spot kick that was easily saved by Pepe Reina.
However the Reds conceded a second PK just three minutes later as Martin Skrtel clipped Long in the box. This time Peter Odemwingie took the kick and smashed it into the side of the net to make it 2-0 to the Baggies.
Then the wheels really came off for Liverpool, as the Baggies pretty much dominated the last 20 minutes of the match. The highlight came in the 77th minute when Chelsea loan product Romelu Lukaku headed home his first of the year for West Brom off of a cross from Liam Ridgewell, wich made the full time score 3-0 at the Hawthornes.
It was an organized and impressive showing for West Brom, though they gave up quite a few chances to Suarez. They might tighten up a bit. For Liverpool, not much went right. Steven Gerrard had a nightmare match, and it's tough to see who is gonna score for the Reds if Suarez isn't on target. It's not going to get easier for them, as they get City next weekend.
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