Liverpool go third with Firmino winner at West Brom

Roberto Firmino scored a winner for the second weekend running as Liverpool beat West Brom to go third in the Premier League.

The Brazil striker headed in at the end of the first half after Lucas Leiva had glanced on James Milner’s free-kick.

Milner volleyed over after half-time, and Simon Mignolet saved with his legs from Matt Phillips at the other end.

Late on, Alberto Moreno missed an empty goal from 40 yards after Albion keeper Ben Foster had gone up for a corner.

Despite that miss, Jurgen Klopp’s side secured a fifth win in seven games, sending West Brom to a third straight defeat.

Klopp has spoken recently of the need for Liverpool to “win ugly” – having developed a habit of beating the Premier League’s top teams and then slipping up against sides lower down.

Liverpool’s manager was particularly wary of the threat that West Brom might pose from set-pieces, an area in which his team have been vulnerable defensively this season.

To counter that danger, Klopp used the fierce winds that hit Merseyside last Wednesday to his advantage – getting his players to face a barrage of high crosses and long throws in training that day.

The manager’s reasoning was that if his players could deal with the ball in the air as it swirled about in the wind, they would be able to handle anything West Brom threw at them.

By and large, the preparation worked – with Liverpool also making sure not to give away too many set-pieces – although there was one hairy moment in the first half when Nacer Chadli miskicked with the goal at his mercy after Liverpool had failed to defend a free-kick.

What was particularly impressive about Liverpool, though, was their midfield domination, which restricted the home side to just a handful of efforts at goal.

Lucas, Georginio Wijnaldum and Emre Can were key to keeping West Brom at bay, and ensured a win that keeps Klopp’s side well on course for next season’s Champions League.

Before last weekend’s trip to Stoke, Liverpool had not won a league game all season without Sadio Mane in the team.

Klopp needed that statistic to change after a knee injury sustained against Everton on 1 April ended the Senegalese striker’s season early.

He found inspiration in the Potteries as goals from Philippe Coutinho and Firmino sealed a 2-1 victory, and the two Brazil internationals were involved in Liverpool’s best attacking moments at The Hawthorns.

Firmino proved his value in terms of creating chances as well as getting the winner, providing a fine diagonal pass that Coutinho volleyed wide in the first half, and crossing for Milner to volley over when well placed in the second.

Liverpool could have won by a greater margin with better finishing – with Moreno guilty of the most glaring miss.

The full-back, on as a substitute, burst away in the closing seconds after keeper Foster was caught upfield for a corner. Instead of running the ball into the net, Moreno elected to shoot from long range, and missed the target. BBC Sport