Liverpool come from behind to beat West Ham and close in on Europe

Danny Lewis

Liverpool celebrate their equalising goal against West HamAFP

Liverpool came from behind to beat West Ham United 2-1 in the Premier League, recording the 11th victory from their last 14 head-to-heads against the East London club.

The Hammers had undoubtedly enjoyed their week before facing the Reds, booking their place in the UEFA Europa Conference League semi-final, convincingly beating AFC Bournemouth, then seeing their U18s win the FA Youth Cup. Lucas Paquetá has embodied the recent joy felt at London Stadium and inspired jubilant celebrations once again 12 minutes in.

After some beautiful link-up play with Michail Antonio, the Brazilian smashed a strike past Alisson Becker for his third goal in as many games, having scored just twice before that all season.

However, Liverpool almost immediately struck back with the quality that had brought them nine goals in their previous two matches. Trent Alexander-Arnold found Cody Gakpo in a pocket of space, where the Dutchman turned and arrowed his shot in off the inside of the post.

The game’s captivating intensity continued, although both attacks were left frustrated before the break. Diogo Jota sent an instinctive attempt and header off target, before Antonio was denied a certain goal by Virgil van Dijk and the striker flicked his header from the ensuing corner agonisingly wide.

There was no slowing down after the restart, and when Paquetá slipped through Jarrod Bowen, the winger cut inside Van Dijk before firing into the bottom corner but ultimately seeing his goal ruled out for an offside call.

Moments after also being left in disbelief when seeing two efforts in quick succession denied, Joël Matip marked just his second start in Liverpool’s last 10 matches by powering his header from Andrew Robertson’s corner past Łukasz Fabiański for his first goal since September.

While West Ham responded well in search of an equaliser, Tomáš Souček couldn’t quite keep his header down as Liverpool secured a third consecutive win for the first time since November, drawing level on points with Tottenham Hotspur ahead of their match against Manchester United.

The Reds also inflicted just the second defeat West Ham have suffered in their last 11 matches, leaving the Hammers five points above the relegation zone.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)