West Brom 0 Liverpool 2
First-half goals from Charlie Adam and Andy Carroll sent West Brom to defeat at the Hawthorns.
First-half goals from Charlie Adam and Andy Carroll sent West Brom to defeat at the Hawthorns.
Adam converted a ninth-minute penalty that was controversially awarded when Jerome Thomas was adjudged to have body-checked Luis Suarez.
Carroll made it 2-0 in first-half stoppage time, as the visitors punished a poor pass from Jonas Olsson.
West Brom could not replicate the spark they showed in beating Wolves and Aston Villa and failed to test goalkeeper Pepe Reina.
The Baggies were behind after just nine minutes in controversial circumstances.
Thomas stepped into the path of Suarez and the Uruguay international went down and, as referee Lee Mason turned away to signal 'play on,' linesman Gary Beswick flagged for a penalty.
Mason responded and Adam tucked the spot-kick into the bottom corner.
The home side had some moments of promise but Suarez should have doubled the Reds' lead on 37 minutes, firing over from the edge of the six-yard box after the ball broke to him from a free-kick.
But the second goal came seconds into first-half stoppage-time, when Jonas Olsson gifted possession to Lucas Leiva and was left outnumbered by Suarez and Carroll.
Suarez squared to his unmarked strike partner, whose low shot crept past advancing goalkeeper Ben Foster into the gaping net.
Three minutes after the restart, Somen Tchoyi wriggled free on the edge of the Liverpool box, producing a smart turn before firing a low cross-shot wide of the target.
At the other end, Foster tipped a powerful shot from a tight angle over the crossbar.
Liverpool applied lots of pressure with Suarez pulling the strings while the home side also posed an attacking threat, especially following the introduction of substitute midfielders James Morrison and Graham Dorrans.