Premier League 2, November 22 2017
This was a more convincing defeat than the previous occasion, when they were 3-1 up after 57 minutes before also losing 5-3 to Blackburn in August. Creditably though, Simon Rusk’s side never capitulated, despite how unlikely the eventual two-goal margin seemed at certain points.
Elliott’s eighth-minute penalty had given the side who started the day two points behind Albion the lead, followed up by Isaac Christie-Davies’s close-range strike following a raiding run down the right and into the penalty area by Elijah Dixon-Bonner. Pedro Chirivella, who had earlier crossed for Elliott to almost score with an overhead kick, then rattled the far post with a header from an Elliott cross as Albion clung on.
Taylor Richards, signed from Manchester City in the summer, provided relief by running down the right and showing composure outside the penalty area to spray a pass into the path of Danny Cashman just inside the box on the left, whose sweetly hit shot, audibly pushing air out of the ball, required a routine save from visiting keeper Ben Winterbottom.
That was as close as Albion came in a first-half display lacking fluency. Their task wasn’t helped by a succession of stray passes from promising positions, Peter Gwargis barking a note of frustration after hitting one of them.
At the back, Antef Tsoungui and Jordan Davies showed consummate control and passing ability, although Elliott should have scored when a lofted through ball evaded Albion’s defence and found him inside the penalty area, turning sharply and smashing a low shot towards the far corner that McGill parried behind. The keeper saved well at his other post soon after, Elliott producing a Cruyff-turn pass to find winger Luis Longstaff at an acute angle in front of goal on the left, only to be denied by the keeper’s legs.
Clearly in tune with heavy metal football, Liverpool were succeeding by building from the back with a heavy press, working in variations of 3-3-3-1. Albion, apparently playing 4-4-2, worked energetically to contain - if not resist - them.
There was a hushed roar as Ted Jenks and Elijah Dixon-Bonner competed combatively for a bouncing ball outside the penalty area, before Liverpool’s third provided a reminder of their largely unerring ruthlessness. Christie-Davies whipped a cross from the right onto the head of Longstaff, who glanced a deadly firm header into the far corner of the net.
The outlook looked ominous for Albion three minutes after half-time. Elliott, who at 16 became the youngest Liverpool player to feature in a senior side at Anfield in the EFL Cup win over Arsenal last month, turned beyond the centre circle and cut out two defenders with a first-time pass onto the run of Curtis Jones inside the penalty area on the left. McGill advanced quickly in front of coaching staff Casper Ankergren and Ben Roberts, both watching from the stand, but couldn’t repel Jones’s measured finish.
That put the Reds 4-0 up, and they looked just too good at that point. Jones was full of skill on the left, his long limbs resemblant of Trent Alexander-Arnold, competing with Albion right-back Romaric Yapi, who had to be replaced by Lewis Freestone after picking up what looked like cramp.
Trying to knock this Liverpool team out of their stride appeared akin to attempting to scupper an engine with a paper fork, but Freestone created a goal Albion deserved. Gwargis and Jones had both offered tame crosses before the defender persisted admirably inside the penalty area on the right in a flourish of trickery that created the space for a low cross, tapped in by rangey striker Bojan Radulovic.
Winterbottom rapped his bar in frustration but it was a just reply for Albion, with another to come. Radulovic had a shot cleared off the line at the near post from Gwargis’s right-wing corner, then knocked Van den Berg off the ball on the edge of the Liverpool penalty area. Cashman picked possession up, took a touch inside and fired emphatically past Winterbottom.
Like Albion, the forward had earned that return on his efforts, buzzing hurriedly around Liverpool’s backline for sections of the afternoon. The unpredictable slugfest the game had become suited Albion, although Liverpool still threatened at will. Jones raced down the left twice - first to play a one-two with Varesanovic before McGill saved, then being denied again when he laced a shot against the near post and behind.
Albion responded by going straight to the other end in a style unimaginable during much of the game until then, Cashman drawing a save from Winterbottom.
Raggedly open, the final stages contained umpteen chances. Chirivella again launched an arrowed pass to locate Jones in sight of goal on the left, finishing coolly from the rebound after initially shooting at McGill’s legs.
Ninety-three minutes were on the clock by now, but the last of Albion’s three goals in a wildly entertaining final 17 minutes was to come - Radulovic adding his second, having emerged as a 70th-minute substitute.
