No rest for the weary... and West Ham might’ve not needed it in a 3-2 win over Liverpool in London on Sunday
Which of these teams was in Belgium on Thursday and which one was home on Wednesday, because Europa League competitors West Ham and its boundless energy thwarted the Champions League visitors at almost every turn of the win.
An early Alisson Becker own goal was joined by Jarrod Bowen assists to Pablo Fornals and Kurt Zouma in a deserved win for David Moyes’ men heading into the international break.
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The Irons climb past Liverpool into third place, level on points with Man City, and three back of leaders Chelsea.
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Divock Origi scored for Liverpool in the loss, the Reds slipping a point behind their hosts.
WATCH WEST HAM vs LIVERPOOL FULL MATCH REPLAY STREAM – LINK
West Ham vs Liverpool final score, stats
Final score: West Ham 3, Liverpool 2
Scorers: Alisson (o.g. 4'), Alexander-Arnold (41'), Fornals (67'), Zouma (74'), Origi (83')
Shot attempts: Liverpool, 16-7
Shots on goal: Liverpool, 5-3
Possession: Liverpoool, 69%
Three things we learned from West Ham vs Liverpool
1. West Ham as London’s Atleti? Going down 1-0 to West Ham is a terrible idea. Their defenders are strong, their midfield plays angry, and every attacker on the team is thrilled to be in open space, picking their routes to attack. It’s not quite as defensive as Diego Simeone to start, but once the lead is in David Moyes hands, the impetus goes to the opposite attack and making it even more miserable for them. West Ham’s discipline absolutely deserves these three points.
2. Goalkeepers the difference: Lukasz Fabianski didn’t make a mistake and Alisson Becker didt. Is it just that simple, even if Bowen and Fornals combined beautifully to exploit an over-anxious Liverpool back line on the second goal? Mistakes are often the difference in tight games and Alisson’s early one had Liverpool playing from behind.
3. Liverpool wide open after going down: Virgil van Dijk was absolutely fuming with his midfielders and fellow defenders as West Ham’s 2-1 lead turned into a counterattacking clinic. Van Dijk wasn’t great on the Irons’ second goal, but neither was Trent Alexander-Arnold and the latter got a director’s cut view of Zouma’s third. Bad, bad, bad. The Reds had allowed eight goals through 10 matches this season. It’s now 11 through 11.
Man of the Match: Jarrod Bowen
It’s difficult to pick between Bowen, who had two assists, and center backs Craig Dawson and Kurt Zouma.
West Ham vs Liverpool recap
Angelo Ogbonna rose high and became a controversial piece of West Ham’s opener as Alisson Becker couldn’t get through the big back to swat a corner kick and instead redirected the ball through his own goal.
A lengthy VAR review appeared to be focused on whether the ball his Ogbonna’s arm, which it didn’t. That would’ve been the only logical explanation for the lengthy review.
VAR was again called upon to review Aaron Cresswell’s sliding challenge into Jordan Henderson’s ankle, and the cameras correctly caught that Cresswell slipped off the top of the ball and was falling when his leg went into Henderson.
Liverpool made it 1-1 with Alexander-Arnold’s exceptional free kick off a slight touch from Mohamed Salah, the right back swirling the ball around the wall and beyond the reach of a helpless Lukasz Fabianski.
The Irons came close to making it 2-1 when Craig Dawson headed a corner kick off the top of the bar in the 50th minute, the Reds doing the same when Alexander-Arnold and Robertson combined to cue up a Sadio Mane volley saved by Fabianski.
West Ham kept coming down the left, trying to free up Aaron Cresswell for crosses, but its second goal came right down Main Street. Pretty much every Reds defender made an error in judgment after Sadio Mane gave up the ball to Declan Rice, and Jarrod Bowen slipped Pablo Fornals through to goal for a shot that was too hot for Alisson.
Divock Origi subbed into the game and got the Reds back within one, and Alexander-Arnold’s magic free kick to the back post was headed wide by Mane in the first minute of stoppage time.