West Bromwich Albion 0 Liverpool 2

Last updated : 17 May 2009 By Footymad Previewer
Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard grabbed his 24th goal of the season as West Bromwich Albion's relegation was confirmed after just one year back in the Premier League.

Albion needed to avoid defeat to take their battle for survival to the final day of the season.

But that was always going to be a tough task against their bogey side Liverpool who set the seal on their win through Dirk Kuyt's second-half strike.

Liverpool have now won all eight of their Premier League games against Albion - scoring 24 goals and not conceding any in the process.

The confirmation of Albion's fate capped off a truly dismal day for the club as they had been forced to suspend striker Roman Bednar on the eve of the game after the Czech Republic international had been pictured in a newspaper allegedly buying drugs.

What was particularly galling for Albion was that they played well against Liverpool only to effectively be the masters of their own downfall.

Gerrard was gifted his 28th-minute goal thanks to an elementary error by central defender Shelton Martis - perfectly summing up the problems that have ultimately cost Albion their Premier League status.

Having seen their title hopes ended the day before the match, Liverpool really only had personal pride to play for, but they were more than up for the task after overcoming an early Albion storm.

West Brom took the game to Liverpool in the opening stages and would have taken the lead but for the heroics of Pepe Reina.

The Spanish goalkeeper was in inspired form as he produced three impressive saves to frustrate Albion.

Following Chris Brunt's fifth-minute corner, Reina twice beat away close-range drives from Albion skipper Jonathan Greening at his near post.

Three minutes later, Reina bravely dived into a crowded goalmouth to punch clear Greening's in-swinging cross with Marc-Antoine Fortune waiting to pounce.

Having managed to withstand that early pressure, Liverpool were able to work their way into the game and Emiliano Insua and Lucas Leiva both had shots blocked before Martis made his fateful error.

There was no immediate danger when Martis collected a pass midway inside his own half from Jonas Olsson.

He turned to try and play the ball back to goalkeeper Dean Kiely but failed to notice that Gerrard was baring down on him. Martis looked on in horror as the England midfielder dispossessed him and raced clear.

Gerrard only had Kiely to beat and he was not going to squander such a golden opportunity as he lifted the ball into the corner of the net to silence the vociferous Albion fans.

Gerrard then almost turned provider four minutes before half-time with a neat chip to Fernando Torres only for the Spaniard to see his header tipped on to the top of the bar by Kiely.

The manner of the goal that Albion conceded really did knock the wind out of their sails but they still managed to build up a real head of steam again at the start of the second half and should have been level in the 59th minute.

Juan Carlos Menseguez rolled the ball into the area from the right wing and Fortune was all set to pounce just six yards from goal only for Leiva to ghost in from behind him and produce a perfectly timed challenge.

It was a decisive moment as Liverpool made the game safe and sealed Albion's return to the Championship just four minutes later.

This time Gerrard's role as play-maker did pay off. He fed Kuyt who surged forward unopposed and beat Kiely with a low 20-yard drive.

Albion could easily have buckled at this stage, but they launched a ferocious search for a way back into the game.

Fortune saw his 77th-minute drive blocked by Jamie Carragher and substitute Luke Moore then smashed a drive against the post in a frantic spell of pressure.

On-loan AS Nancy marksman Fortune then headed just over the bar before the Frenchman saw another effort beaten away by Alvaro Arbeloa - prompting a furious bust-up between the Spaniard and Carragher.

Fortune did finally get the ball into the net when he collected a blocked shot from Robert Koren only for it to be ruled out as Ryan Donk was offside.