Two first half goals from Sadio Mane and Phillipe Coutinho saw Liverpool defeat West Bromwich Albion by 2-1 to get back to winning ways. The Reds four-match winning run came to an end after their dull goalless stalemate against Manchester United on last Monday.
The Merseyside club’s flawless game was on full display as they completely dominated the proceedings at Anfield. In-form player Sadio Mane, who arrived at Anfield this term, opened the scoring after brilliantly steering in Roberto Firmino’s cross. The home side doubled their lead when Phillipe Coutinho when he picked the pass from Mane, then cut inside a West Brom defender to coolly shot into the bottom corner.
The Reds were dominating the proceedings after the second half too and their goal tally would have been much more but they missed a lot of chances to convert the chances. Liverpool were looking all set to securing the three points comfortably but Gareth McAuley’s goal in the 81st minute gave the home team some anxious moments. However, the Reds held on to collect all the three points. But the goal denied them the chance to go top of the table. Nevertheless, the win extended their unbeaten run to nine games in all competitions to leave them second in the Premier League table, behind leaders Arsenal on goal difference.
Here is how Twitter reacted to the match:
Liverpool's 9 PL goals from open play at Anfield this season have been scored by either Coutinho, Firmino, Lallana or Mane. pic.twitter.com/GTkbOPmfdq
— Coral (@Coral) October 22, 2016
Good win that today for @LFC Coutinho outstanding & a great block from Lovren late on won us the 3 points. #LIVWBA
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) October 22, 2016
Phew another 3 points and was nice being top of the league for like 20 minutes. #LIVWBA
— Noreen Khan (@DJNoreenKhan) October 22, 2016
Resting bench face. #LIVWBA pic.twitter.com/QGyqVJJcXq
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) October 22, 2016
Coutinho receives -5 fantasy points for celebrating goal with pre-arranged dance. #LIVWBA
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) October 22, 2016
Talking about shooting on target, #LFC had better statistics. But WBA GK was able to block it. Can, Milly, Gini, even heading from Lovren.
— magnoficent (@magnoficent) October 23, 2016
Starting to believe Brendan Rodgers deserves a weekly gift basket for any role he played in bringing in Roberto Firmino. #LFC
— Aaron Maples (@mapes9) October 23, 2016
4 points from last two matches, especially against two good defending teams: United and WBA, is a boost for the team. Hope to continue. #LFC
— Bibek Bhattarai (@Bibek_liverpool) October 23, 2016
https://twitter.com/YNWA_Liverpool8/status/790016752109363200
https://twitter.com/AndyWraithmell/status/790011214596145152
https://twitter.com/AndyWraithmell/status/790009704541892608
Good win. We should have buried the match well before the end. If football bans corners, we will defo win the league. #LFC
— Rahul Puri (@rahulpuri) October 23, 2016
@LFC's inability to kill off opposition and keep a clean sheet plus vulnerability from set pieces will cost us the title #truth #LFC #YNWA
— Babatunde Koiki (@BabatundeKoiki) October 23, 2016