Liverpool 2 Albion 2

Adam Lallana wanted to say a proper, if belated, farewell to Liverpool fans.

He got that chance late on Saturday afternoon at Anfield.

The man who won Premier League and Champions League honours will have been full of pride as he approached those who remained on The Kop.

Pride in what he achieved with their club – and pride in what he is part of now.

Lallana returned as a winner before empty stands last season.

But it was tempting to wonder – to paraphrase Liverpool’s own slogan - whether, before full seats and from 2-0 down, this meant more.

More even than a 1-0 win as the shouts of Lallana and company echoed around those same stands on a Wednesday night last winter.

Very different games, very different occasions.

But the same message about how Albion are progressing and growing.

Their comeback with goals from Enock Mwepu and Leandro Trossard actually diluted Lallana’s post-match farewell.

It meant the stadium was less than half-full by the time he and Liverpool supporters swapped applause.

Many had headed for the exits quickly as their side’s afternoon fizzled out.

A yard the other way and Trossard, who was flagged offside, would have given Graham Potter’s brave, confident side the winner.

Albion fans who had watched that famous 1-0 from their sofas and had cheered their side in gallant defeats on the two previous visits in normal times lapped it up.

Liverpool away at any time is tough.

Liverpool away when there is a crowd, Virgil van Dijk is fit and the Reds are coming off a 5-0 win at Old Trafford is a huge test.

Especially at the end of a demanding week.

There were a few seconds after Liverpool thought they had scored a gift third goal when it seemed the afternoon was going horribly wrong.

But trust in what they are doing was key to Albion emerging with reward – and looking the more likely winners in the second half.

Potter said: “Anfield is an amazing place. You have to enjoy coming here and playing.

“I was really happy we have shown what we are about.

“I think we were ourselves. We are playing against a team who are on the back of a 5-0 victory so full of confidence, full of belief, and we had to dig in, of course.

“But the Liverpool supporters are very knowledgeable and I think they appreciated our performance in the second half and over the course of the game.

“You can’t say more than that.”

So, with a thought to that Liverpool slogan, it was tempting to ask Potter whether “this means more”.

To come from 2-0 down and get a result amid the proper Anfield challenge.

Potter told The Argus: “Nothing can take that (win last season) away.

“But it’s different when there are 50,000 in here.

“You have got to deal with that as well and I thought the players did it fantastically.

“We are happy with both. Today just feels really good.

“It’s only a point, ‘only’ a point, but it’s still a point at Anfield, which is still good for us.

“But we are, I think, more happy with the way the team is progressing, the way the performance was.

“The supporters are fantastic.

“They came and helped us and I am pretty sure they have gone home appreciating their team.”

And appreciating the way they are set up.

The names on the team sheet suggested a possible back three with Solly March at right wing-back and Enock Mwepu as a false No.9.

Instead, March joined Lallana in support of frontman Trossard while Mwepu was further back (although he actually popped up all over the place).

That set-up got March in on goal almost from kick-off after brilliant work by Trossard.

But there were also adjustments made after Liverpool raced into a 2-0 lead.

It was easy to be critical or even dismissive of the home team and say they had an off day but they started the game full of life and confidence and caused quite a few problems.

Jordan Henderson whipped home the early opener after they had stretched play from side to side.

And, while Albion will look at how they lost Sadio Mane, his free header for the second goal capped some good approach play and a fabulous cross whipped in by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

The home press would have made it 3-0 had the ball not gone in off Mane’s arm when he closed down Sanchez on the goal-line.

But the way Sanchez kept playing, kept taking his time and kept measuring his passes said everything about the team display.

His ball angled into Cucurella’s path down on the left sparked the move from which Trossard took Lallana’s pass, cut inside and calmly went near post as Alisson dived towards his far.

Mwepu, meanwhile, capped his own breakthrough week by having a big part in a goal for the third successive match.

His first-time finish curled over Alisson late in the first half combined vision with execution and capped a 14-pass move in which he had been involved.

Mwepu continued to stride forward in the second half, Cucurella saw a drive parried by Alisson just after the equaliser and Tariq Lamptey was explosive off the bench.

There were a couple of seconds in dreamland when Trossard ran on to Lamptey’s pass, rounded Alisson and finished, only to be flagged offside.

It was the right call, just as it was to cancel out a Mo Salah strike for offside at 2-1. And it was probably the right result over the 90 minutes.

Albion did not nick a point at Anfield. They earned it with a display which says so much about their future.

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Lallana and those home fans who stayed will have appreciated that as they celebrated old times at the end.

Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson; Keita (Oxlade-Chamberlain 19), Henderson, Jones (Minamino 87); Salah, Firmino (Jota 78), Mane. Subs not used: Adrian, Gomez, Tsimikas, Origi, Matip, Morton.

Goals: Henderson 4, Mane 24.

Yellow card: Minamno (88) foul, Robertson (90+4) dissent.

Albion: Sanchez; Veltman, Duffy, Dunk, Cucurella; Bissouma (Mac Allister 60), Mwepu, Moder (Lamptey 66); Lallana (Gross 77), March; Trossard. Subs: not used Steele, Webster, Maupay, Locadia, Roberts, Sarmiento.

Goals: Mwepu 41, Trossard 65.

Yellow card: Lamptey (90) delaying free-kick, Duffy (90+1) foul.

Referee: Mike Dean