West Ham serve up memorable win over Liverpool to give Moyes the ideal landmark gift
West Ham (1) 3 Alisson OG 4, Fornals 67, Zouma 75
Liverpool (1) 2 Alexander-Arnold 41, Origi 83
West Ham stunned Liverpool to end the Reds’ long unbeaten run – gaining a first win over the Merseysiders since the 2016 FA Cup win at the old stadium.
It was the perfect anniversary present for David Moyes, taking charge of a side for the 1,001st time, and caps a truly amazing few weeks for the Irons.
They have beaten bitter rivals Spurs, ended Man City’s dominance of the League Cup, made progress in the Europa League and won at Everton and Villa.
Now, perhaps improbably, they leapfrog the previously undefeated visitors – undefeated in 25 games - to move up to third in the Premier League table. They are just three points behind leaders Chelsea after this. Heady days.
Having been pegged back after an early strike, West Ham regained the lead midway through the second half through the excellent Pablo Fornals, who made the most of a stupendous run from Jarrod Bowen which opened up a retreating Reds defence – running through the gap before clipping past Alisson.
And as the now-panicked men from Anfield streamed forward trying to repair the damage, a counter-attack led to a corner from which an unmarked Kurt Zouma thundered in a far post header from Bowen’s flag-kick. What a time to register his first goal for the club.
Sub Divock Origi pulled a goal back with a smart turn and left foot strike to set up a nervy finale, Sadio Mane missing one particularly good chance with a stooping header inside the box. But the Irons held on.
Moyes’ men were to have only 30 per cent of the ball overall but they never looked like folding, such was their organisation and level of effort and they made the perfect start.
Alisson flapped at a near-post corner from Fornals and could only help the ball squirm over him and into the far corner of the net – a VAR review deciding the keeper had not been impeded by the leap in front of him by Angelo Ogbonna, as he claimed.
Moyes was forced into an early change at the back when Ogbonna first twisted his knee, then took an accidental smack in the face from the elbow of Diogo Jota which drew blood. Craig Dawson deputised.
Liverpool seemed to take while to get going after that setback. We had gone past the half hour mark before they finally threatened – Jota's header from a Jordan Henderson cross bouncing off the top of the net.
But they were level at the break after winning a free-kick just outside the area. Declan Rice felt hard done-by when Mo Salah hit the deck from his challenge but ref Craig Pawson called it as a foul and Trent Alexander-Arnold curled a beauty of a kick beyond Lukasz Fabianski.
A Dawson header bounced off the top of the crossbar from another Fornals corner soon after the restart but Liverpool were looking stronger as the game wore on.
Fabianski was lucky that Mane struck a close-range volley straight at him. Mane pulled a ball back to Salah which was struck firmly but ill directed – flying well over the bar.
Salah, who scored on his last two visits to the London Stadium, was kept relatively quiet and that underlines how good a game Aaron Cresswell had.
He managed to subdue the Egyptian, who has been in scintillating form of late and that was a key element of this notable victory. So too was the running of Michail Antonio, who managed to pull defenders out of position to create space for others.
Hammers: (4-2-3-1) Fabianski – Johnson, Zouma, Ogbonna (Dawson 22), Cresswell – Soucek, Rice – Bowen (Coufal 84), Fornals, Benrahma (Masuaku 86) – Antonio. Subs not used: Areola, Lanzini, Noble, Diop, Fredericks, Kral
Reds: (4-3-3) Alisson – Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson – Henderson, Fabinho (Minamino 80), Oxlade-Chamberlain (Thiago 68) – Salah, Jota (Origi 75), Mane. Subs not used: Kelleher, Konate, Tsimikas, Origi, Phillips, Williams, Morton
