Tony Pulis unhappy with Roberto Firmino’s goal in West Brom's 1-0 defeat to Liverpool
Sunday 16 April 2017 17:35, UK
Tony Pulis was left disappointed by Roberto Firmino's goal on the stroke of half-time, suggesting the goal should not have stood as West Brom slipped to a 1-0 defeat to Liverpool at the Hawthorns.
Firmino headed in the only goal of the game just before half-time to settle affairs at the Hawthorns and extend his side's unbeaten run to seven matches, but Pulis made a case in his post-match interview that the goal should have been ruled out for a block on Craig Dawson by the goalscorer.
Pulis thought West Brom were punished for a foul from Darren Fletcher on goalkeeper Simon Mignolet earlier in the game that was similar to Firmino's block on Dawson.
"You'll see Firmino blocking Dawson off at the back," Pulis told Sky Sports.
"The referee had blown on our first corner for Fletcher blocking the goalkeeper.
"If you take a look at Fletcher blocking the goalkeeper and Firmino blocking Dawson and you make your mind up on which is the worst decision and which one gets punished."
When asked if the goal affected his side, Pulis, who saw his side rue missed opportunities from Nacer Chadli and Matt Phillips, added: "We're really disappointed about the goal just on half-time. It affected us for the first 20 minutes of the second half and that was the negative I spoke to them about afterwards.
"We've got to be better than that. We've got some smashing players and some smashing lads in the dressing room but that reaction really set us back.
"They had two or three great opportunities. They had great possession, played through us too easily and had two really good chances to score.
"That could have killed the game but we got through that and picked it up again. We got it back in the last 20 minutes of the game and we're disappointed we haven't got anything out of the game.
"At the end with had three great chances and against the top teams you've got to be taking those opportunities. Overall we're disappointed."
