By: Shane Brennan.
Liverpool welcomed West Ham United to Anfield on Saturday evening, The Reds knew they would need to win if they were to keep the pressure on Man City at the top of The Premier League.
Liverpool clicked into gear immediately, when less than two minutes into the game, Trent Alexander-Arnold took a quick free kick which found Mohamed Salah, it left the Egyptian with only Lukasz Fabianski to beat in The Hammers goal, but Salah could not convert a huge opportunity, as Fabianski managed to get down well to make the save.
It was west Hams turn to threaten next as Michail Antonio stung the Palms of Alisson Becker as he cleared the ball behind for a corner. This chance was swiftly followed by Antonio going on a solo run, which ended up seeing Alisson going down to his left to make the save, as Liverpool were finding the going tough early on.
However just before the half hour mark Liverpool were to make the break through, when Naby Keita set up Alexander-Arnold, who had a shot, which found its way to Sadio mane who finished from close range, to put The Reds in the box seat.
Then it was time for Luis Diaz to take centre stage as he ran from inside his own half leaving several West Ham players mesmerised, as they were not able to do anything about a simply electrifying run, until Kurt Zouma eventually stopped the South American on his tracks right on the edge of the area. Alexander-Arnold took the resulting free kick, which sadly was always going away from goal.
Liverpool then created another suburb opportunity, when Fabinho picked out Alexander-Arnold, he played in Luis Diaz who tested Fabianski , but sadly the ball would not go in in for Liverpool’s new exhilarating magician.
Pablo Fornals was to have a huge opportunity before the half time interval as he was put clean through on goal with only Alisson to beat, but The Brazilian managed to stand tall and strong to make an excellent save. The ball was to come back out into a dangerous area but Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konate were on hand to make stunning clearances, as Liverpool somehow survived.
The second half started well for Liverpool as Mane found Diaz in space, this time he tried to curl the ball past Fabianski but the ball was to go agonisingly wide of the Polish internationals right hand post.
Liverpool failed to put the game to bed properly, and that left them always vulnerable to a sucker punch at the other end, and The Hammers very nearly cashed in, when Tomáš Souček picked out Manuel Lanzini in the middle, who looked certain to score, but thankfully he could not get the ball properly out of his feat, which resulted in him scooping his shot over the top of the crossbar, as Liverpool breathed a huge sigh of relief.
It wasn’t the best Reds performance, but it was one where their resilience sheer grit and determination saw them through for a massive three points in the race for The Premier League Title.
Up next for Liverpool is the visit of Inter Milan on Tuesday evening.
By: Shane Brennan.
