West Ham United 3-2 Liverpool
West Ham beat Liverpool in a five-goal thriller to go third in the Premier League, leapfrogging the Reds in the process.
After a howler from Liverpool keeper Alisson had given the Hammers an early lead, the Reds hit back just before the break when Trent Alexander-Arnold curled in a sublime free-kick. But man-of-the-match Pablo Fornals made it 2-1 and Kurt Zouma scored the third as the Hammers reached for the sky.
A goal on 83 minutes from Divock Origi hauled the Reds back into the game and they had a late chance to nick a point but the Hammers held on for a famous victory.
After racking up 1,000 matches as a boss in midweek, Hammers head coach David Moyes will be blowing bubbles!
Highlights of the game
With yesterday’s Premier League 2021 results throwing up a win for Manchester City in the derby and a draw at home to Burnley for Chelsea, the onus was on Liverpool to keep pace with the leaders. But they had the worst possible start when the Hammers went ahead in bizarre circumstances. When Pablo Fornals swung in a 4th-minute corner, Alisson flapped at it and it skimmed off his glove and into the net.
VAR took a look to see if there was a foul on the keeper but there was no reprieve for Brazil number one.
And VAR was in action again, on ten minutes, when Aaron Cresswell went in very high on Jordan Henderson but he, rather luckily, escaped a red card. It was a handy result for the Hammers who defended in numbers as Liverpool tried to fight back, and it took until the 32nd minute before Liverpool had their first attempt on goal, Diogo Jota heading a cross from Henderson onto the roof of the net.
West Ham almost made it to the break-in front, but with four minutes left to play the Reds were level. Declan Rice gave away an unnecessary free-kick, tripping Mo Salah just outside the penalty area. Trent lined it up, rolled the ball sideways to Salah who stopped it for the wing-back to then curl it into the top right corner giving Lukasz Fabianski no chance.
Five minutes into the second period the Hammers almost repeated their first-half start when Fornals sent in a corner which Craig Dawson met, but his header crashed back off the crossbar. Then Sadio Mane had Liverpool’s second attempt on target but he volleyed straight at Fabianski.
West Ham were better in the second half than the first and, with a quarter of the match remaining, they were ahead again. Liverpool lost the ball sloppily in midfield and Jarred Bowen made a surging run forwards before slipping Fornals through on goal and he did the rest, firing low past Alisson to send the home fans wild.
The keeper might have done better but, unbelievably, he was picking the ball out of the net for the third time in 74 minutes. And Liverpool were undone by a corner again, this time it was Bowen curling into the far post where Zouma rose to head home.
The Hammers had 15 minutes to hang on, and things became all the more tense when Liverpool sub Divock Origi swivelled and scored to make it 3-2. And on 90 minutes the Reds had a huge opportunity when Trent sent over a dead ball cross to the far post where Sadio Mane was unmarked, but the Senegalese striker headed across the goal and wide.
Key statistics
The Reds went in at halftime level, which is the least they could expect having had over 70 per cent possession and with West Ham not having a shot on target.
The Hammers were much better in the second half, registering three shots on target to Liverpool’s four, to inflict a first defeat at the London Stadium on the Reds in six attempts.
And this was Moyes’ 50th West Ham win. The manager can do no wrong; this is West Ham’s best-ever Premier League return after 11 games.
What’s next?
After the international break, Jurgen Klopp’s side will return to fight on three fronts. The Reds are in the last eight of the Carabao Cup, second-favourites behind Chelsea at SBOTOP odds of 4.00, and they have already booked their Champions League Round of 16 place after beating Atletico Madrid last week.
The latest Premier League 2021 betting odds place the Reds as third favourites behind Manchester City and Chelsea and, next up, they face Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal. The Gunners have recovered after losing their opening three games and moved up to fifth place with a win over Watford on Sunday. They too are in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, alongside West Ham, who put out Manchester City in the last round.
The Hammers are also going well in the Europa League and, after the break they continue their league campaign with a home match against Wolves, whose five-match unbeaten run was ended by Crystal Palace on Saturday.
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