Liverpool got their first win of the English Premier League season when they beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 at Anfield on Sunday [Monday morning Tasmanian time].
A superb second-half strike by Fernando Torres in the 66th minute earned The Reds the three points.
It was Liverpool’s 350th Premier League win and their 2,000th league win overall.
The goal was Torres’s first for Liverpool since 28th March and his 50th goal at Anfield. His reaching of the 50-goal mark is the fastest of any Liverpool player.
The goal came after an expert one-two between Torres and Dirk Kuyt which sent the latter down the left wing. When Kuyt chipped the ball back into the middle, Torres finished with a marvellous volley from the edge of the box.
Liverpool had a penalty appeal for hands turned down late in the match by a very lenient referee, Lee Probert, after a Torres shot had been blocked by the outstretched arm of defender Gonzalo Jara.
Probert did, however, send off James Morrison in the closing minutes after the West Bromwich Albion player had gone over the top in a tackle on Torres.
Probert had done nothing all game, however, about blatant shirt pulling and wrestling inside the box at corner-kicks. Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel was particularly guilty of this and at one stage wrestled an opponent to the ground in full view of the referee, who did nothing.
Torres almost had a second goal in the 71st minute when Steven Gerrard picked him out at the far post with a cross from the left, but Albion keeper Scott Carson produced a splendid block from almost point-blank range.
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