Liverpool suffered a double whammy of early defensive injuries in the first half, before a double whammy of penalties in the second half to deny the reds the points.
With Spurs and Chelsea dropping points, the reds will look wistfully on another wasted opportunity – but of more concern will be further injuries to the defence.
The reds started brightly, and Kuyt in particular was unlucky not to break the deadlock – but in the 8th minute Glen Johnson overstretched and went down clutching his hamstring. Kyrgiakos was sent on to replace him, with Carragher moving over to right back. Almost immediately the reds attacks down the wings suffered.
15 minutes later and it was Daniel Agger who was substituted off after sustaining an injury, replaced by Danny Wilson – another centre-back forced to play out wide.
West Brom dominated the rest of the first half as Liverpool struggled to reshuffle. A couple of decent saves from Pepe Reina kept the scores at 0-0 by half time.
The reds were first to break the deadlock when Meireles floated in a corner for Martin Skrtel to head in. It was deserved for the reds centre-back, who had been amongst the more consistent players in a poor Liverpool first half.
Just past the hour mark however, Martin Atkinson, pointed to the spot for West Brom, after a tackle on Odemwingie. Replays suggested that Kyrgiakos had won the ball in the challenge, but Chris Brunt put the penalty away to give West Brom the equaliser.
West Brom were buoyed by their fans now, and with the reds dysfunctional midfield – had a number of good chances.
With 2 minutes of time remaining Kyrgiakos elected not to make the challenge in the penalty box, and Pepe Reina brought down Odemwingie. The ref correctly gave a penalty and Chris Brunt made it his second from the spot.
Late on the reds applied the pressure, with Luis Suarez almost single handedly attempting to rescue a point for Liverpool.
But it wasn’t to be, and the reds missed a golden chance to advance on 5th. European Football almost certainly looks unlikely for next season, and many supporters will be looking ahead to the summer and the opportunity to begin reshaping the LFC squad – which both on the wings and at left and right back looks very weak.
Goals: Skrtel (49)
Team: Reina, Johnson (Kyrgiakos 8), Carragher, Skrtel, Agger (Wilson 24), Meireles, Spearing, Leiva, Kuyt (Cole 87), Suarez, Carroll
Unused Subs: Gulacsi, Ngog, Poulsen, Rodriguez
Soto had a rough day, that’s definitely true. He has been responsible for three penalties in two matches… this is more like the Soto we thought we had signed rather than the one we have had at the club. Gutted, but we didn’t deserve the win. We, as Glen said, lacked creativity. We also completely clogged the pitch wherever we were, often with 3-4 players within 20 yards of each other. Can’t expect to be creative if you have no space!
no doubt west brom played better than us we lack creativity. why cant we win against lower level teams.disapointed but we underestimated them. expected more we are playing like a 7th placed team. the injuries did hinder us no doubt soto just played lousy.