Reds robbed by Baggies

Liverpool's faint hopes of qualifying for the Champions League faded into a far-flung fantasy last night after defeat at home to West Bromich Albion left them twelve points off the top four with only twelve games remaining.

Former Liverpool assistant manager and current Albion boss Steve Clarke used his insider information to  mastermind an excellent game plan that his players executed to perfection. Similarly to last season at Anfield- the last time the Baggies kept a clean sheet on the road- West Brom kept the hosts at bay and then struck in the late stages through McAuley and Lukaku to clinch their first win since Boxing Day in front of a disbelieving Anfield crowd.

Although disappointed at the absence of the on-form but injured Daniel Sturridge, Kopites were pleased to hear latest new arrival Philippe Coutinho was on the substitutes' bench, ready to make his debut for the Merseysiders. Meanwhile, Shelvey stood in for Sturridge just off sole striker Luis Suarez and Jamie Carragher retained his place alongside Daniel Agger at the heart of the Reds' defence after announcing his retirement recently.

The first half was unexpectedly low key, as a flat atmosphere permeated Anfield. Neither side really stamped their mark of authority on the contest, with West Brom happy to sit back and fail to register a shot on or off target and Liverpool frustratingly unable to replicate the type of form they displayed at Manchester City and Arsenal.

Liverpool had the ball in the back of the net after 10 minutes but Shelvey's simple finish after Foster had parried Johnson's blast was rightly ruled out for offside. For the rest of the match, the Reds found it impossible to find the net as they came up against an inspired Ben Foster, who was arguably his side's man of the match.

The 29-year old former Manchester United stopper pulled off plenty of superb saves, tipping Agger's header over the bar and palming away Downing's powered strike from range. Suarez then shot high and wide, before Foster's work was almost undone by a mistake from one of his defenders, namely Steven Reid. Shelvey's low cross didn't find anyone in a Red shirt, but Reid very nearly turned it into his own net, slicing the ball just over the bar to the relief of the Baggies' faithful situated behind the Anfield Road end goal.

Rodgers' side started the second half slightly better, applying more pressure on their opponents and asserting their supremacy, however, the Midlanders remained stubbornly difficult to break down and the Reds' attack lacked the creativity necessary to unlock their defence. Suarez would normally provide that spark of genius to break the deadlock but he wasn't at the races last night either.

On 53 minutes, Shelvey's header from a corner was cleared. Carragher headed the ball back to him and it then rolled across the line, but sadly Shelvey was offside so it wouldn't have counted anyway. With an hour played, Rodgers sent on reinforcements to try and spur Liverpool on to victory, Sterling and Borini replacing Henderson and Shelvey respectively.

The pair made an impact. First, Borini's swerving shot was thwarted by a diving save from Foster. Then, Sterling set up Gerrard, whose shot was well saved by Foster. Borini scrambled to reach the rebound but only managed to hit the side-netting.

The breakthrough finally seemed to have arrived with a quarter of an hour left to play when, quite remarkably, Suarez was a given a relatively soft spot kick after a slight nudge in the back from Olsson. Liverpool fans had a feeling it just wasn't going to be their day, though, when Gerrard missed the Reds' sixth penalty out of their last seven, Foster making a fine save.

Foster saves Gerrard's spot kick in a crucial turning point

That, alongside West Brom's decision to go two up front after the introduction of Lukaku, proved to be the decisive turning point in the contest. Emboldened by their performance so far and with fortune seemingly on their side, the away side pushed forward to inflict the killer blow. After Mulumbu's shot had swerved wide from 25 yards out, West Brom took a shock lead, as McAuley easily evaded the attention of Agger to head a corner home.

Lukaku then shot wide after breaking clear, but he wasn't going to be denied a goal as, in the dying stages, he turned Agger and fired home to clinch a 2-0 hit and run victory for the visitors. Coutinho may have made his debut late on, but there was nothing he could do to rescue the Reds.

Smash and grab- Lukaku puts the final nail in the Reds' European coffin?

It was a win their plucky performance arguably deserved. For all their pressure, Liverpool's 23 shots resulted in no goals while West Brom's four shots yielded two goals and three points. That's simply not good enough at this level, and certainly not the type of form that will propel the Reds into contention for Champions League qualification.

At this rate, we'll be lucky to get into the Europa League!

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Very disappointing. - Jane Wiffen

The players need to play with spirit and passion. - Jack Staley 

Total disgrace. Brendan Rodgers must be very disappointed, they played with no passion. Man of the match was Carra. The rest were a total disgrace.

YNWA