The mood at the London Stadium was a sombre one after news of Billy Bonds’ sad passing, but after paying tributes pre-match, it was straight down to business.
A ropey few weeks for Liverpool has shown no signs of slowing in recent weeks, having suffered three heavy defeats in a row.
This was at least a favourable fixture on paper in which they could bounce back, and they did start sharply, with big-money signing Alexander Isak’s acrobatic effort forcing a stunning reaction save out of Alphonse Areola.
With star man Mohamed Salah on the bench, the Reds looked a little toothless in attack, but they did manage to make a clear-cut chance shortly before the break.
Virgil van Dijk’s hopeful ball forward caused havoc in the West Ham defence, and when the ball dropped kindly for Florian Wirtz, it seemed for all the world he would score his first PL goal, but a tame effort was easily gathered by Areola.
Isak has struggled as much as Wirtz since moving to Merseyside, but he finally managed to get the monkey off his back shortly before the hour mark when he worked a yard in the box and swept home after Cody Gakpo found him inside the area.
West Ham never overly threatened in the final third, and Nuno Espírito Santo made the unusual decision to change striker for striker, which came to the dismay of the London Stadium faithful, who felt he should’ve introduced a second player up top.
Any chances they had of getting back into the game dissipated six minutes from time when Lucas Paquetá, who had already been shown one yellow card for dissent, was incredibly given another for the same offence just a minute later.
It was a welcome boost for Arne Slot, whose side secured a pressure-relieving victory to move them back into the top half, and victory was wrapped up in stoppage time when Cody Gakpo slammed home from close range to end the game as a contest.
The shortcomings of sides around them mean that West Ham remain outside of the bottom three, but they’ll no doubt be anxiously peering over their shoulders ahead of the midweek round of fixtures.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Joe Gomez (Liverpool)
