West Brom 3 Liverpool 0: The scoreline was harsh, insists Rodgers

West Brom 3 Liverpool 0: Brendan Rodgers insists his side's defeat at the Hawthorns was not a fair reflection of the match

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By TSR staff Saturday 18 August 2012, 19:17 UK

West Brom

Liverpool

Brendan Rodgers claims West Bromwich Albion’s margin of victory over Liverpool was an inaccurate reflection of his side’s performance at the Hawthorns.

Zoltán Gera scored a spectacular strike just before half-time and Peter Odemwingie extended the Baggies’ lead from the penalty spot with 26 minutes remaining. Substitute Romelu Lukaku then netted a third to seal the three points for Steve Clarke’s side.

West Brom striker Shane Long had earlier missed a spot-kick of his own, with Daniel Agger receiving a straight red card for his reckless foul on the forward in the box.

“I thought the scoreline was harsh, I’ve got to be honest,” said Rodgers. “After the first couple of minutes of the game, we got good control and rhythm in our game. Up until they scored the first goal, it looked as though we were the team who were going to get it.

“I’ve no complaints about the first goal – it was a fantastic strike. We defended the [initial] corner quite well with good height and distance on our clearance. Glen Johnson probably couldn’t have done any more as he went to press the ball, but it was wonderful technique.

“We were virtually controlling most of the game in the first half, but then we found ourselves 1-0 down.

“I’m not one to go on about referees, but in the second half I thought the two [penalty] decisions – three if you include the sending off – were very, very harsh.

“I don’t think either of the decisions were penalties. If you see them again on the replay, you’ll see that they were very, very harsh.

“Obviously then with 10 men and chasing the game, it becomes difficult.”

West Brom boss Clarke, who quit a coaching role at Anfield to take the job at the Hawthorns, refused to get carried away with the result.

“It’s a decent start,” he said. “If we had got a negative result today I would have stood here and said ‘don’t read too much into it’.

“We kept shape and we had a threat going forward which is important when you’re playing against a top team – and Liverpool will be one of the top teams this year.”