Liverpool 4-1 West Bromwich Albion match report 26th October 2013

A stunning hat-trick by Luis Suarez inspired Liverpool to a commanding victory which sent out a daunting message to their Premiership rivals and ended West Bromwich Albion’s five game unbeaten run.

The Uruguayan striker capped a superb performance and once again showed that on his day, he is one of the best finishers in the world. Daniel Sturridge scored late on with a sublime chip which on any occasion would be the main talking point of any game. But it was overshadowed by Suarez's first hat-trick at Anfield.

Ironically, the first goal on 11 minutes came shortly after Suarez showed the side which angers fans in the Premiership and frustrates some of the Liverpool faithful, when he appeared to go down far too easy under a challenge from West Brom's Gareth McCauley.

No sooner had the boos  from the Baggies' fans died down than the Reds No.7 picked up the ball 35 yards out on the right and dummied Claudio Yacob before nutmegging captain Jonas Olsson and firing a powerful right foot shot past goalkeeper Boaz Myhill.

 

On 17 minutes Suarez started off another move where he fed the ball wide left to Aly Cissokho and the wing back played a scooped ball into the box which Suarez met powerfully with his head  from the edge of the area and powered the ball into the top left-hand corner.

The Baggies just could not cope with wave after wave of Liverpool pressure and failed to test Reds' keeper Simon Mignolet until the dying minutes of the first half when a long ball over the top sent Nicholas Anelka away but the Frenchman could not get any power on the shot and Martin Skrtel cleared the ball away for a corner.

The second half went the same way as the first as Liverpool continued their dominance. On 55 minutes, captain Steven Gerrard floated in a precise free-kick from the left and Suarez rose high to flick the ball past Myhill to complete his hat trick.

West Brom looked dead and buried but on 67 they were awarded a penalty by a linesman after Billy Jones powered into the box and was blocked off by defender Martin Skrtel. Substitute James Morrison fired the ball past Simon Mignolet to hand the Baggies a lifeline.

However any hope of a comeback was crushed by England striker Daniel Sturridge with 13 minutes to go when he ran at the defence on the left before chipping an inch perfect ball into the top right corner of the goal leaving keeper Myhill clutching the air.

The comprehensive defeat was a reality check for the Baggies who’s storming turnaround from the team that started the season poorly, came to a sudden stop. They were simply outclassed in all areas of the pitch by the home team on a sunny autumn afternoon at Anfield. Boss Steve Clarke was quick to acknowledge the Liverpool dominance saying 'we were beaten by the better team'.

Reds boss Brendan Rodgers described Suarez's performance as 'magic' but also praised the hard work of Lucas Lieva, restored to his defensive midfield role. When asked about former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson's criticism of his captain Steven Gerrard in his autobiography,  Rogers laughed and said: "he's a top, top, top player!"