West Brom Stun Liverpool in Controversial FA Cup Match, Win 3-2

Liverpool suffered a second consecutive shock loss on Saturday, as West Bromwich Albion beat them 3-2 in the FA Cup fourth round. 

Roberto Firmino opened the scoring early, but a double from Jay Rodriguez gave the Baggies the lead. An own-goal from Joel Matip completed a first half filled with controversy and video assistant referee interventions.

Mohamed Salah reduced the deficit with 12 minutes left to play, but Liverpool couldn't find the equaliser, despite a late push.

Here's a look at the team sheet, via James Pearce of the Liverpool ECHO:

The match started at a fierce tempo, leading to plenty of early action. Within 11 minutes, there were three goals on the board, with the Reds kicking things off through Firmino.

Bleacher Report's Dean Jones noted Arsenal target Jonny Evans made a big mistake that led to some space for Salah and the eventual goal:

But not to be outdone, the Reds handed the Baggies all of the momentum within minutes. Rodriguez's first was a nice team goal from the visitors, with Rodriguez firing past Mignolet. The visitors' second second came after a host of mistakes.

Football writer Karl Matchett tried to sum them all up:

And things nearly got even worse for the stunned Reds, who appeared to have conceded again before 20 minutes had passed, but they were saved when VAR was used to cancel out Craig Dawson's goal. He climbed on the back of Firmino, and while the decision to overturn was a controversial one, the Liverpool man certainly had a case, while Gareth Barry also appeared to interfere from an offside position.

West Brom were furious, and things got even worse minutes later. Salah went down inside the box under contact from Jake Livermore, and after another lengthy review, VAR was used to award the hosts a penalty. John Cross of the Mirror couldn't help himself:

Firmino missed the chance to tie things up, however, hitting the crossbar.

The Baggies lost Kieran Gibbs and Hal Robson-Kanu to injury before half-time, and Salah and Firmino both had great looks on goal that came to naught. There was still time for one more VAR intervention, when Dawson blasted a ball into the box and Matip turned it into his own net.

BBC Sport's Francis Keogh noted the match was running late due to all the reviews:

The Baggies continued their momentum early in the second half and had the ball in the back of the net, only for Dawson's goal to be ruled out for offside, with no VAR needed. 

Liverpool had no real answers, and West Brom comfortably held onto their lead. The Baggies even ventured forward despite the advantage, and Emre Can was booked after he fouled Barry.

Manager Jurgen Klopp made three changes at once in a desperate attempt to reverse his side's fortunes, but as shared by Matchett, options were limited:

James Milner put Ben Foster to work with an excellent shot, but the Baggies stopper was powerless to deny Salah after a smart pass from Firmino, setting up a tense finale.

The Reds bombarded the hosts with crosses but couldn't really work the ball into dangerous areas, and when they did have their chances, Foster was there to prevent further damage.

The defeat comes on the heels of the Reds' 1-0 loss at 20th-placed Swansea on Monday night in the Premier League. West Brom currently sit level with the Swans on 20 points.

Liverpool's next outing will be against Huddersfield Town, while WBA visit Manchester City.