Sadio Mane’s first-half goal proved enough for Liverpool as they stumbled to a 1-0 win over West Ham to move them three points off leaders Manchester City.
Frantic Start From Both Sides
In the second minute of the game, Salah’s shot was saved by Fabianski to keep the score 0-0. This was soon followed by a shot from Antonio, which was saved by Alisson.
As Liverpool continued to apply pressure, they were rewarded with a goal. Trent Alexander -Arnold was given time to control the ball on his chest outside the penalty area, but his shot was poorly struck, only for it to turn into a perfect cross for Mane to ghost between Lukasz Fabianski and Craig Dawson before steering home on the 27th minute.
Originally the goal was reviewed by the referee for a possible offside. However, it did not work in West Hams favour and the goal was given.
Liverpool went close again soon after Mane’s opener, but Alexander – Arnold’s free kick curled wide and Aaron Cresswell made a miraculous goal line clearance to keep Salah’s shot out.
Fornals was a gifted a one on one opportunity against Alisson but his lob attempt was cleared off the line by Alexander-Arnold. Trent then blocked Nikola Vlasic’s follow-up to further frustrate Moyes. Trent Alexander-Arnold was angry at the linesman for not giving an offside on Fornals.
Liverpool finished the first half with a 1-0 lead.
Hammers Second Half Dominance
The Hammers then come out in the second half with motivation as they began to apply pressure on the Reds by keeping the ball well and showing good movement.
Soucek got clear down the right and crossed low for Lanzini, who saw his initial shot blocked, then blazed the ball over the crossbar from no more than eight yards.
With 10 minutes left Noble played a great pass to Antonio with the outside of his foot, but the forward was denied yet again as he bore down on goal.
It was as close as the Hammers came to earning the point their overall performance arguably deserved, but yet again Anfield proved an unhappy hunting ground for the east Londoners.
Full time – Liverpool 1-0 West Ham
West Ham Were Wasteful
Speaking with West Ham United supporter Billy Davies on his take on the game, he said ‘I really felt like we should have at least put one or two goals in the back of their net, but we failed to.’
Vital Stats
Possession:
Liverpool – 68.7% , West Ham – 31.3%
Total shots:
Liverpool-22, West Ham-13
Shots on target:
Liverpool-5, West Ham-5
Corners:
Liverpool-4,West Ham-4
Offsides:
Liverpool-1, West Ham-4
Player Ratings
Liverpool: Alisson(6);Trent(7), Van Dijk (6), Konate (6), Robertson (7);Keita (6), Henderson(6), Fabinho (5);Salah(5), Mane (7), Diaz (8)
subs – Jota (6), Milner ,Jones (n/a)
West Ham : Fabianski (7); Johnson(6), Dawson (7), Zouma(6), Cresswell (7); Soucek (6),Fornals(7),Bowen(6),Lanzini(7), Vlasic(5); Antonio (7)
subs – Benrahma(6), Noble(7), Chesters(n/a)
Man of the match: Luis Diaz
West Ham’s Amazing European Adventure Continues
West Ham will travel to face Sevilla in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie on Thursday, March 10th at 5.45 pm. The Hammers’ next Premier League game will be against Aston Villa on Sunday, March 13th at 2pm.
