Liverpool went into half-time of their FA Cup fourth-round tie trailing West Brom.
The Baggies took a 3-1 lead into the break, after coming from behind to leave Anfield stunned. Roberto Firmino opened the scoring after just six minutes, netting with a deft lob over Ben Foster.
However, a minute later, West Brom were level. Jay Rodriguez buried a first-time shot from the edge of the penalty area past Simon Mignolet.
6' Roberto Firmino 😎
7' Jay Rodriguez 😱Two special goals in the space of 68 seconds! What a start 😳
📺 BT Sport 2 HD & 4K UHD pic.twitter.com/q023r4Mpu9
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 27, 2018
After 11 minutes, it was 2-1 to the visitors – Rodriguez got his second of the night.
What is going on!?
Jay Rodriguez makes it 2-1 to West Brom at Anfield with his second goal of the game 😱
What a first half so far!
📺 BT Sport 2 HD & 4K UHD pic.twitter.com/yJfI2DNPdn
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 27, 2018
VAR cancelled out a third goal for West Brom…
This is what the VAR saw for West Brom's third goal, which was subsequently ruled out for offside.
25 minutes in and what a game we have already 😳 pic.twitter.com/ilr9yLDC6X
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 27, 2018
And Firmino missed a penalty in a frantic and entertaining first-half…
This game has it all 😂
Liverpool are awarded a penalty through VAR and the West Brom players are furious!
Roberto Firmino only goes and misses it 🙈
Get BT Sport 2 HD on now, who knows what's going to happen next 🤷♂️🙈 pic.twitter.com/f3Q56oIT8C
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 27, 2018
Which ended with West Brom leading 3-1. Joel Matip scored an own-goal, just before the half-time whistle.
Manchester United fans enjoyed what they were seeing, with many of them taking pleasure in witnessing Vigil van Dijk struggle. The Liverpool defender may have cost £75m from Southampton, but he can’t solve the team’s defensive problems on his own. As the first-half against West Brom proved, these issues don’t start and end with one individual player.
Liverpool did notch one back through Salah, but it wasn’t enough for the Reds. They lost 3-2.
You can spend £75m on a defender, then Hal Robson-Kanu stands in his way twice & there's nothing you can do. What a sport this is.
— Nick Miller (@NickMiller79) January 27, 2018
Yet, this was inevitable. In fact, for the rest of the season, each time Liverpool concede a goal, you’ll see this reaction.
United fans, confident that they have never witnessed an expensive signing play poorly for their team, laid into Van Dijk.
https://twitter.com/UtdOliver/status/957341337090699271
Van Dijk has made Liverpool’s defence worse. You can’t make this up 😂😂😂 #LIVWBA
— Brandon 🔰 ➐ (@b8olaaa) January 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/TheManUtdWay/status/957342189163597824
What a signing! 75m on Van Dijk, and WBA have only scored 2 goals in 10 mins! Top defending by @LFC !
— Keith (@keefyw) January 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/utdxtra/status/957343669182443522
Van Dijk = Most Expensive defender in the history of Football. Oh Liverpool 😂
— Sarah Adams (@Mufc_Sarah) January 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/AlexisRole/status/957342220545417221
