The Reds could do nothing to stop Zoltan Gera's stunning opener minutes before the break, but shocking defending was to blame for falling further behind in the second half. Both Agger and Skrtel conceded penalties in a matter of minutes, the former seeing red, with Long missing the first but Odemwingie converting the second. Loanee Lukaku rubbed salt in our wounds with a late header and, but for some fine saves from Reina and profligate finishing, the Baggies' margin of victory could quite easily have been larger.
Joe Allen was handed a debut in midfield next to Gerrard and Lucas, while Kelly replaced the injured Enrique in the starting line-up, as Glen Johnson filled in at left back. Meanwhile, Suarez, Borini and Downing formed an attacking triumvirate.
The first half was fairly even but the visitors managed to create more goal scoring opportunities and therefore slightly edged it. Luis Suarez, in particular, was notably creative and inventive going forward but he frustratingly lacked a cutting edge in front of Foster's goal. The Uruguayan nutmegged one, jinked past another and hammered straight at the keeper on nine minutes, before he fired into Foster's arms after beating two West Brom defenders soon after. The number seven then sliced wide when well placed after latching onto Lucas' through ball.
Down the left hand side Glen Johnson was also posing a threat, marauding forward and getting involved as much as possible. After Borini's shot curled just wide from his cut back, Johnson delivered a brilliant cross to Suarez, who agonisingly headed over the bar on the half hour mark when he really should have nodded home.
Apart from Long's lob landing on top of Reina's net, the hosts hadn't troubled the Spanish keeper too severely. However, there was nothing Pepe could do to stop Gera's tremendous volley zooming into the top corner of the net after Agger's headed clearance from a corner had landed at the Hungarian's feet 25 yards from goal.
Gera's goal to break the deadlock moments before the interval was a decisive body blow that the Reds' struggled to recover from in the second half. Although shortly after the break Suarez struck a free kick just wide of goal after Mulumbu had flattened him, West Brom were in the ascendancy and troubling the Reds' shaky back line for the remainder of the second period.On 57 minutes referee Phil Dowd awarded the home side the first of two correctly awarded spot kicks when a slight touch from Agger sent Long tumbling in the box. As he was the last man, the Dane was also shown a straight red card to add insult to injury.
Thankfully, Long's weak penalty was akin to a back pass and Reina easily dealt with it. He didn't enjoy such good fortune moments later, though, as Peter Odemwingie smashed home a second penalty after Skrtel had accidentally and mindlessly kicked Long when attempting a pass.The Reds' response was uninspiring, as Suarez squandered yet another chance, firing over from close range after Foster had spilt Allen's corner, before Cole, who had been introduced to try and add some life to our attack, suffered yet more horrendous luck as a hamstring injured meant he had to be replaced with Carroll, who lacked the motivation to make a difference due to the rumours surrounding his future.
West Brom were so dominant in the closing stages that they could have properly humiliated their visitors. Carragher had poor finishing from Morrison to thank on 73 minutes after Lukaku had eased past the number 23 effortlessly, leaving him on his backside as he squared the ball to his teammate, whose effort cleared the crossbar. Lukaku later nodded home at the back post from Ridgewell's lofted cross to secure a 3-0 victory for the Midlanders.
It was a victory that they fully deserved after an impressive performance. Liverpool, on the other hand, were taught some serious lessons yesterday. Their defence performed abysmally, crumbling far too quickly at the slightest hint of pressure from their opponents. Moreover, although he created chance after chance, Suarez failed to convert those chances a worrying amount of times, a problem that appears likely to continue from last season. Surely it's time for Rodgers to spend a decent amount of money on a finisher. Suffering your heaviest defeat on the first day of the season since 1937 is hardly the best preparation for upcoming fixtures versus Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal. The only thing Liverpool can do now is learn their lessons from this defeat and move on as quickly as possible.
YNWA
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