The afternoon started positively for the Reds as Danny Ings scored his first goal since October 2015 to sweep his team into a fourth-minute lead.
Then, in the second half, Mohamed Salah equalled the Premier League record for the highest number of goals in a 38-game season, netting strike No.31 of the campaign with a well-executed dink.
However, Jake Livermore gave the Baggies hope when he hooked in a finish soon after, and Salomon Rondon crashed home a header two minutes from time to secure a 2-2 draw for the hosts.
Afterwards, Klopp reflected on the decisive set-pieces in the final quarter-hour, explained his team selection and took a positive from Ings’ long-awaited return to the scoresheet.
Read on for a summary of the manager’s post-match press conference…
On how the game unfolded…
If you made a ‘set-piece Premier League’ where only set-pieces are allowed then West Brom would, for sure, not go to the Championship. They are really good at that. We defended it quite well over 75 minutes, it was pretty much the only situation they had. Of course, it’s always difficult to defend Rondon in general and with Rodriguez around. But the boys did well, really well. We scored the first one. Then the pitch got drier and drier, that’s not an advantage for the football-playing side. You could see that especially around the second big chance of Danny Ings after a nice diagonal ball from Hendo and Joe, then Mo, and then Ingsy was in front of the goal. It makes life a little bit more difficult.
We scored the second, all good so far. I couldn’t see that the boys finished the game mentally or said ‘OK, that’s it now.’ We knew each set-piece can be a real threat, and then it happened. The first goal was after a corner. I didn’t see it a second time but it looked similar to our first goal – bam, bam, bam and scored from a short distance. The second goal was no foul; [there were] plenty of free-kicks for West Brom in different situations. That was not a foul but it was the best position they could get for what they are strong at. Then they scored the second. Now we have to take it.
On the difficulty of deciding a line-up with Tuesday’s Champions League tie to come…
It was not that difficult, to be honest. It was clear in the moment when we could make these changes. We couldn’t do them in the past. We had Trent and Joe through the whole season, then Trent and Clyney. Unfortunately, Clyney was a little bit injured again. It was clear that at one point Robbo cannot play all the games. Alberto would have played at Everton for sure but was then unfortunately a little bit injured. Ragnar was out for a while. And Ingsy came on from time to time, started at Everton in another position. It was always clear that in the moment we could use them because of the physical situation we would do it. That’s what we did.
On the importance of Ings’ goal on a personal level…
It was always clear that when Danny is fit, healthy and can keep the intensity in training – which he has been doing now for a long time – he will score goals in the Premier League. But we didn’t have too many opportunities for him; that’s not so nice but on the other hand it’s a normal life for a professional football player. It’s really nice that he could do that. He was a real threat. The second chance was really big and I’m sure he would have scored in another situation, now after a little rain. Then being involved in the penalty situation. It was a very nice game for him, for sure. But a very hard one as well. He was constantly a threat, that’s good and I’m happy about that.