West Brom Rally from 2-Goal Deficit to Draw vs. Liverpool
West Bromwich Albion launched a brilliant late fightback to draw 2-2 with Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday, scoring twice in the final 12 minutes.
Danny Ings fired Liverpool into an early lead with his first goal since October 2015, taking advantage of some slack defending.
Liverpool were in complete control of the contest after the break, and Mohamed Salah grabbed his 31st Premier League goal of the season in the 72nd minute with a tidy finish following an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain through ball.
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While the game looked over, West Brom didn't give up and got themselves back into the contest thanks to Jake Livermore's 79th minute goal. Then, with two minutes of normal time remaining, Salomon Rondon thudded a header past a sprawling Loris Karius to give the Premier League's bottom side a deserved point.
Liverpool Strike Early
With Tuesday's UEFA Champions League semi-final in mind, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp rested a number of key men. It meant a rare chance for Ings to show what he could do from the start.
It didn't take the former Burnley man long as he reacted quickest following some awful West Brom defending, hammering a left-footed shot home from close range. Per Squawka Football, it had been a long time coming:
The goal was the main bright spark in what was an otherwise quiet half from Liverpool in the final third.
Salah buzzed around as expected, linking the play and drawing fouls. The closest the Egyptian came to getting on the scoresheet in the first half was with a long-range free-kick that arched over the crossbar.
At the other end, West Brom came close to an equaliser when James McClean fired a cross into the six-yard box, but it somehow evaded the stretching Rodriguez.
Ings in the Wars
After the break, Ings continued to be involved in the action and will have felt hard done by in a couple of instances.
The first saw the forward blatantly taken out inside the penalty area by Craig Dawson, but no penalty was awarded. Mike Keegan of the Daily Mail couldn't quite believe it:
The second was a tangle with Ahmed Hegazi. As the two fell to the floor after jostling for the ball, the Egyptian aimed a short-arm punch into the stomach of the Liverpool striker, but it went unnoticed.
In the end, an eventful day for Ings came to an end in the 65th minute as he was replaced by Roberto Firmino.
Salah Scores Again
With fresh legs on the field, Liverpool were enlivened in attack, with Firmino and fellow substitute Oxlade-Chamberlain linking to release Salah for the second goal of the game.
Oxlade-Chamberlain's delicate ball put Salah in on the left channel, and he lofted the ball nonchalantly over the onrushing Ben Foster. As we can see here, there aren't many players who have matched his goal haul in the Premier League:
The finish was indicative of a player operating with supreme confidence and eerily similar to the goal Salah scored against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League recently.
Former club Roma face a huge challenge trying to keep the Reds' No. 11 quiet Tuesday.
Liverpool Let It Slip
Thoughts did appear to turn towards Tuesday for Liverpool, as Salah was withdrawn from the contest in place of Dejan Lovren, and the intensity slowed. From here, West Brom found a foothold.
In the 78th minute, Livermore reacted fastest in the penalty area after a Karius save, bundling the ball home to give West Brom some hope. It woke up the Hawthorns, and with Liverpool looking shaky, they sensed something was there for their team.
In the end, there was, as a brilliant delivery from the left flank from Chris Brunt tempted Karius into coming for the ball. Rondon got there first and planted a header into the bottom corner. As noted by OptaJoe, West Brom haven't made the most of his goals this term:
For Liverpool, it was undoubtedly two points dropped, giving Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur a boost in the race for second. West Brom will still go down this season, but their supporters will be encouraged by their improved displays under Moore.
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