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 Saturday 31st December 2005, Barclays Premiership, Anfield, Kick-Off 3:00pm
Liverpool: Reina,
Finnan, Hyypia, Carragher, Riise, Garcia, Gerrard, Alonso, Kewell (Sinama-Pongolle
67), Crouch (Sissoko 81), Cisse (Traore 89).
Subs not used: Carson (gk), Hamann
Albion: Kuszczak, C
Davies, Watson, Clement, Albrechtsen, Chaplow (Greening 65),
Wallwork (Kamara 76), Carter, Robinson, Campbell (Ellington 80), Horsfield.
Subs not used: Hoult (gk), Moore
Referee: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire)
Assistant Referees: Andy Halliday (North
Yorkshire), John Holbrook (Worcestershire)
Half-Time:
Attendance: 44,192 Conditions: Cool and bright
MATCH REPORT
BY: ALBION TEAM NEWS: Baggies' boss Bryan Robson made four changes to the team that beat Spurs on Wednesday. Kevin Campbell and Geoff Horsfield come into the team in place of Kanu (injured) and Nathan Ellington (substitute) whilst Paul Robinson and Richard Chaplow replaced Jonathan Greening and Diomansy Kamara who both dropped to the bench.LIVERPOOL TEAM NEWS: Rafa Benetiz made two changes to the side that beat Everton 3-1 in their last game. John Arne Riise and Luis Garcia replaced Stephen Warnock and Mohamed Sissoko. CROUCH STRIKE ENDS KUSZCZAK RESISTANCE Just as on Boxing Day at Old Trafford, Albion arrived on Merseyside more in hope than expectation. With nine successive league wins behind them, Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool side were always going to be tough opponents and so it proved. The team selection didn’t really hold many surprises. It was obvious to all that Bryan Robson would rest Kanu, whether he had been fit or not, and seeing as Nathan Ellington had started against both Manchester United and Spurs it was also no surprise to see him out of the team. The strikeforce Robson did pick though was truly shocking. The decision to play both Kevin Campbell and Geoff Horsfield ensured that the Liverpool defence probably had their easiest game of the season. Neither player is simply good enough at this level. The sight of Horsfield and Campbell leading the line is even more galling when you consider that last season’s 14 goal top scorer Rob Earnshaw is now being frozen out completely. Sure Earnshaw isn’t a particularly good team player and yes his contribution to games is very limited but he’s a natural goalscorer. Against teams such as Liverpool when you may only have one chance all game you must surely play the one striker likely to take that chance? Albion started the game fairly well against a Liverpool side struggling to impose themselves on the visitors. With five at the back and a midfield of Ronnie Wallwork, Richard Chaplow and Darren Carter we looked solid enough but we were never going to pose much of an attacking threat - infact our only real foray forward during the opening stage of the game came in the 10th minute from the once again, excellent Curtis Davies. After a surging run down the right wing the young centre-half sent over an inviting cross that just evaded the lurking Campbell. The clearance fell to Carter who was too slow to do anything with it - the chance was lost. The hosts then started to get themselves into the game and in the 14th minute a Neil Clement mistake almost gifted the Reds the lead. A loose pass on the edge of the penalty area gave Harry Kewell a shooting chance that Tomasz Kuszczak did well to tip over - it was to be the first of a number of good saves by our ‘Pole in goal’. Just one minute later Kuszczak came to Albion’s rescue again when Steven Gerrard and Djibril Cisse combined to set up Kewell in the box but the Australian star’s 15 yard shot was excellently palmed away by the big keeper. Albion had another lucky escape on 21 minutes when slack marking on a Gerrard corner led to John Arne Riise firing in a 20 yard shot that crashed off the post, the resulting rebound fell to Kewell whose shot took a wicked deflection off Steve Watson - thankfully that man Kuszczak was there to deny Liverpool yet again. In the 27th minute Albion had perhaps their only real chance of the game when following a Carter corner the ball fell to Chaplow on the edge of the box, the ex-Burnley man firing well wide when he should really have done better. Liverpool continued to dominate and England star Gerrard was next to test Kuszczak with a swerving 25 yard drive that the Pole did well to beat away. It really was one way traffic now, with the lumbering Horsfield and Campbell up front and the ineffective Carter and Chaplow in midfield Albion were inviting pressure onto themselves but somehow they managed to hold out until half-time. Albion’s hopes of hanging on for a point were dashed just six minutes into the second half. After Ronnie Wallwork had lost possession of the ball on the edge of the penalty area, Kewell sent over a cross that the much taunted Peter Crouch headed past the blameless Kuszczak. It was once again slack marking by the Albion defence and once again, as so often this season, Clement seemed to be the player that had lost his man and was outjumped. It was now a question of whether Albion would fall apart, as so often against Liverpool in recent years. Thankfully the answer was no, although again that was due mainly to the efforts of Kuszczak in the Baggies’ goal. In the 63rd minute the keeper pulled off another fantastic save, pushing away Riise’s deflected 25 yard free-kick. Ten minutes later Liverpool and Crouch should of made it 2-0. Cisse, having easily beaten Clement sent over a pinpoint cross to the unmarked striker who could only head straight at Kuszczak from five yards out. The arrival of both Nathan Ellington and Diomansy Kamara meant for the last 15 minutes of the game we at least had a bit of pace on the pitch but it was to no avail as the home side easily contained the few attacks Albion launched. Whilst the final whistle was met by applause from the majority of the travelling support, it was probably more for the fact we didn’t get beaten more heavily rather than for the actual performance. Liverpool weren’t at their best, but to be honest they didn’t need to be. MAN OF THE MATCH: Tomasz Kuszczak PLAYER RATINGS OUT OF TEN
Kuszczak 9 - Seemed to
be playing Liverpool on his own at times, an excellent display of
goalkeeping.
Albrechtsen
5 - Struggled.
SUBS:
Greening
5 - Didn't really make much
difference. REF WATCH
Alan Wiley 8 - Kept the game flowing well, a
good performance.
FAN
WATCH
wba.co.uk
Bryan Robson:
"I was pleased with the
character of my players. There was a stage last season when, if we went 1-0
down like we did today, we might have lost 4-0. But the lads stayed in there
and I thought it maybe could be our day, which is why I put a couple of
forwards on towards the end. I was hoping
Liverpool would get
nervous and that we could nick a goal back but, to be fair to
Liverpool,
they kept on playing.”
"Peter Crouch took his
goal well. I can normally blame my defenders when we concede a goal but it
was a great ball in and a terrific header by Crouch.
Liverpool
deserved the win but at one stage I thought it might be our day with Tomasz
Kuszczak making some good saves."
"I thought all the back
players played well. But the reason we were under so much pressure was
because our retention of the ball was so poor. It was similar to when we
played Manchester United at Old Trafford. When we win the ball, we don't
keep it and that's why so much pressure comes onto us. We have to improve on
that.”
"But our home
performances of late have been very good. What we need to do is bounce back
against Villa on Monday. If we can put another good performance in and beat
Villa, I'm confident we can go on from there."
Source: wba.co.uk
Rafael Benetiz:
"For me the West Brom
keeper was the man of the match and that was probably one of the best games
of his life, he was amazing. We did all the things for winning and at times
it was almost impossible to score. Scoring one goal is not enough but we
created enough chances to have won by at least five goals."
Source: liverpoolfc.tv |
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