PRAISE BE! WE’VE ENDED OUR HAWTHORNS HOODOO
Klopp delight as Firmino strike cements first win in SIX YEARS at West Brom to take Liverpool up to third
SUCCESSIVE victories at Stoke and West Brom will hardly rekindle memories of Liverpool’s glory years.
Yet they could prove a significant signpost on the route back to the Champions League as Jurgen Klopp’s Reds climbed to third.
Liverpool showed flair and no little grit to triumph at the Hawthorns for the club’s first league win there since 2011.
They were forced to dig deep in the closing stages as the hosts, safe from the drop, dispensed with any remaining caution.
Albion even threw keeper Ben Foster up front at corners for an all-out assault. But the Merseysiders held out thanks to some impressive goalkeeping from Simon Mignolet.
Roberto Firmino’s first-half header for his 11th top-flight goal of the season proved decisive. It was the second time in a week the Brazil star had produced the winner after a crucial late strike at Stoke.
Ironically, it came from a free-kick after much of the talk had been about the Baggies scoring 18 times from set-pieces this season.
Boss Klopp (below) was thrilled as his celebrations on the pitch with Liverpool’s players at the final whistle clearly showed.
His men are unbeaten in their last seven Premier League games, with just five remaining, as they bid to compete against Europe’s elite after a two-year absence.
Klopp said: “This is one of the most difficult places to go because in no game can you be com- fortable. I thought we won here last year but it was only a draw. “If it had been 4-0 after 86 minutes maybe then I would have thought it was done. “They have good footballers on the pitch and, if you are a little bit less aggressive, they use their threat from set-pieces to play football. “It was very important to show this concentration level until the end which was really good. “After the whistle, I don’t think we did crazy things but we were very happy. “I thought the boys did very well and we have 66 points now which is a really good week.” The Baggies started brightly as a long throw caused chaos and ended with Hal Robson-Kanu just failing to convert Matt Phillips’ subsequent cross.
But despite their positive start, the hosts nearly fell behind in the 15th minute.
Firmino should have hit the target but dragged a low leftfoot shot wide from Philippe Coutinho’s pass, after an error by Claudio Yacob.
Robson-Kanu had another sight of goal in the 35th minute from Jake Livermore’s defencesplitting pass, but the Welsh international’s finish was straight at Mignolet.
Albion were made to pay seconds before the break when Lucas Leiva flicked on James Milner’s free-kick for Firmino to head in.
After the restart, Liverpool pushed for a second goal. Skipper Milner volleyed over Firmino’s cross from the right when well placed.
Ten minutes from time the visitors were indebted to a fine stop from Mignolet, who came running off his line to close down Phillips.
Albion threw everything at Klopp’s men in a frantic finale as even keeper Foster went up.
He was then stranded upfield as Liverpool broke, but sub Alberto Moreno tried his luck from distance, putting his shot wide in a breathless conclusion.
Of Moreno’s effort, Klopp added: “I would have been happy for him if he had scored this goal, but it meant excitement until the end, which is pretty much always the case when we are involved.”