West Bromwich Albion 0-0 Liverpool match report Saturday 26th April 2015

Steven Gerrard’s 500^th Premier League appearance was the only highlight in a dour draw which all but ended Liverpool’s chances of a Champions League spot but lifted West Bromwich Albion a point closer to safety.

The England legend was given a huge ovation from both sets of fans as he reached the magnificent mark and came close to breaking the deadlock in the 27^th minute but his 20 yard free kick  curled just wide of the post.

Then a goalmouth scramble resulted in a double save from ‘keeper Boaz Myhill to deny first Phillipe Coutinho and then Jordan Henderson.

Apart from that, the chances were few in a first half which was poor as both sides seemed to run out of ideas as soon as they got close to their opponent’s penalty area.

The second half was more lively as both teams decided to be a little more adventurous in search of a season-boosting three points.  James Morrison came closest for the Baggies’ when his header from a Callum McManaman cross was cleared off the line by Dejan Lovren. The away team also had chances to win the game. Jordan Ibe rattled the crossbar and Lovren himself couldn’t divert a 93^rd minute header goalwards.

Neither team could take advantage and as a result they were forced to share the spoils in what was poor fayre for the sell-out crowd packed into the Hawthorns.

After the game Liverpool boss Brendan Rogers lamented on the lack of goals this season after Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge scored 52 goals between them last season.

“You take 52 goals from a team and it certainly doesn’t help,” he said. “But the players showed terrific quality. It was a good response but we couldn’t quite make the breakthrough.

“As a team the players are giving everything but in the final third we couldn’t make that final pass that made the difference.”

Baggies boss Tony Pulis was full of praise for his team’s hard work in holding on for a vital point in the fight to stay in the Premier League.

“We showed some resilience but we had to as Liverpool stepped it up in the second half but we got the result we needed,” he said. “It is a great point for us but we need to keep going. We still need one or two more points.”