Liverpool dreams off a top-four finish suffered another major setback after being frustrated by a dogged West Brom team
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Brendan Rodgers’ men enjoyed the majority of the possession during the first half and a few chances, but failed to put them away.
On 27 minutes, Mario Balotelli was brought down by Saido Berahino on the edge of the area. The resulting free kick from Steven Gerrard was curled inches over the cross bar. Phillipe Coutinho, who saw a long range shot whistle over prior to the Gerrard effort, then played a short pass to Balotelli on 35 minutes, with the Italian fizzing a volley over the angle of post and bar.
The game came to life during the second half and the visitors will wonder how they failed to make the break through. Balotelli had a close range shot blocked and the rebound fell to Coutinho, who’s shot produced a fantastic save from Boaz Myhill. The keeper then got quickly to his feet to deny Jordan Henderson’s effort. Jordon Ibe was the next to go close, playing a one-two with Balotelli and then seeing his shot strike the crossbar.
For long periods, West Brom looked happy to take a draw but they did come close to sneaking the win on the break.Martin Skrtel failed to deal with a right-wing cross into the box, James Morrison headed goalwards and although Simon Mignolet got fingertips to the ball, Dejan Lovren still needed to clear the ball off the line. With this one point Liverpool are back up to fifth but miss the chance to close the gap on Manchester City in fourth, while West Brom have moved a step closer to survival and stay 13th.
