Premier League leaders Liverpool could not upstage a very determined West Brom side as a Semi Ajayi header secured a late equaliser to stun the Reds and clinch a 1-1 draw for the relegation battlers at Anfield.
Sadio Mane put Liverpool ahead in the 12th minute with a clinical finish after receiving a pass from Joel Matip but they struggled to create clear chances after with Sam Allardyce’s side eventually punishing their sluggish display with a deserved leveller eight minutes from time.
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Right before the Nigerian defender Semi Ajayi found the back of the net with a towering header, West Brom came close to equalising but Alisson Becker pulled off a one-on-one save to deny Karlan Grant, with Joel Matip suffering a groin injury to compound Liverpool’s woes.
The draw didn’t do so much damage to Liverpools title bid but it ensured they missed the chance to move five points clear at the top of the Premier League table. As for Allardyce, he celebrates another impressive result on Merseyside once again after he was the last manager to win a Premier League game at Anfield, with Crystal Palace in 2017.
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Manager’s reactions
Jurgen Klopp told Sky Sports: “It was our own fault. It’s an incredible challenge to stay active, to stay lively, when you are constantly facing 10 men but to be fair West Brom did that. They did their job for 90 minutes.
“West Brom deserved the point tonight because we didn’t finish the game and didn’t have enough clear-cut chances.
“It is difficult to create – it’s a busy period and all that stuff.
“But in the end everyone knows and feels we should have and could have done better tonight and then we would have won the game.”
Sam Allardyce told Sky Sports: “I saw really good organisation and a team trying their very best to nullify the best team in the league on their own patch.
“What a fantastic job they did. It’s all about staying in the game when you come here and not opening up too much and not allowing Liverpool to breeze through you winning three or four-nil.
“We kept that tight ship going for a long period of time, which I thought was very good considering we went a goal down so early on in the game.”
Stats and facts from the match (Backed by Opta)
- West Brom manager Sam Allardyce is unbeaten in each of his last four Premier League games at Anfield (W1 D3), each coming while in charge at a different club (Sunderland, Crystal Palace, Everton, West Brom).
- Liverpool have failed to win six of their 15 Premier League games this season (W9 D5 L1), as many as they did in the entirety of last season in the league (W32 D3 L3).
- Having picked up just one point from their opening six away league games this season (D1 L5), West Brom have since earned two from their last two on the road away to Manchester City and Liverpool (D2).
- Liverpool failed to win for only the second time in their last 34 home league games (W32 D2), also drawing 1-1 with Burnley in July of last season.
- Sadio Mané scored his 69th Premier League goal for Liverpool, moving him level with Luis Suárez and behind only Robbie Fowler (128), Steven Gerrard (120), Michael Owen (118) and Mohamed Salah (86) for most goals in the competition for the Reds.
- Among defenders since the start of the 2018-19 season, only Virgil van Dijk and Aaron Pierre (both nine) have scored more headed league goals in England’s top four tiers than West Brom’s Semi Ajayi (eight).
Premier League Table
| # | Team | Pl | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 15 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 37 | 20 | +17 | 32 |
| 2 | Everton | 15 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 26 | 19 | +7 | 29 |
| 3 | Leicester City | 15 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 28 | 19 | +9 | 28 |
| 4 | Man Utd | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 30 | 23 | +7 | 27 |
| 5 | Tottenham | 15 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 26 | 15 | +11 | 26 |
| 6 | Man City | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 21 | 12 | +9 | 26 |
| 7 | Aston Villa | 13 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 27 | 13 | +14 | 25 |
| 8 | Chelsea | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 30 | 17 | +13 | 25 |
| 9 | Southampton | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 25 | 19 | +6 | 25 |
| 10 | West Ham | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 23 | 21 | +2 | 22 |
| 11 | Wolves | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 20 | -5 | 21 |
| 12 | Leeds United | 15 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 25 | 30 | -5 | 20 |
| 13 | Newcastle | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 17 | 24 | -7 | 18 |
| 14 | Crystal Palace | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 19 | 28 | -9 | 18 |
| 15 | Arsenal | 15 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 15 | 19 | -4 | 17 |
| 16 | Brighton | 15 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 18 | 24 | -6 | 13 |
| 17 | Burnley | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 20 | -12 | 13 |
| 18 | Fulham | 15 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 23 | -10 | 11 |
| 19 | W Brom | 15 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 30 | -19 | 8 |
| 20 | Sheff Utd | 15 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 8 | 26 | -18 | 2 |
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