Liverpool’s striker Darwin Nunez scored a remarkable goal as his team secured a 3-1 victory in the Premier League against a resilient West Ham side at Anfield.
The visitors made a strong start, with Tomas Soucek’s header in the seventh minute forcing an impressive save from Liverpool’s goalkeeper, Alisson.
Just two minutes later, Michail Antonio missed a header from a Soucek cross with a clear chance to score.
West Ham would later regret their early missed opportunities as Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah was fouled by Nayef Aguerd in the 15th minute, resulting in a clear penalty. Salah stepped up and confidently converted the spot-kick to give Liverpool the lead.
6 – Mohamed Salah is the fifth player to either score or assist a goal in each of his team's first six games of a Premier League season, after David Beckham for Man Utd in 2000-01, Thierry Henry for Arsenal in 2004-05, Sergio Agüero for Man City in 2019-20, and Erling Haaland for… pic.twitter.com/L4vzxoZKMp
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 24, 2023
This energized the home team, but West Ham managed to equalize before halftime when Jarrod Bowen made a remarkable diving header at the feet of Virgil van Dijk, marking his fourth goal of the season.
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This goal bore a striking resemblance to the James Ward-Prowse goal that had previously put them ahead against Manchester City just a week ago. However, once again, it wasn’t enough to secure points for West Ham in the match.
After missing several good opportunities, Nunez finally scored a goal by latching onto a splendid lofted pass from Alexis Mac Allister, much to the joy of the Anfield crowd.
Nunez’s goal affected West Ham’s momentum, and substitute Diogo Jota managed to score a third goal with a header from Virgil van Dijk’s assist in the 85th minute, just four minutes after entering the game.
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This victory places Liverpool in second place in the table with 16 points, trailing leaders Manchester City by two points. West Ham, with 10 points, sits in seventh place.
In contrast to their early-season performances where they often fell behind, Liverpool appeared to regain their usual form in Sunday’s win.
Manager’s words after the match:
As quoted by Sky Sports, Klopp said:
“Difficult, difficult game. Very good moments in the first half but not enough in control to deny them completely. But I thought we played good in different phases. Lost some balls we shouldn’t have lost, that is clear.”
“But we scored a goal on the counter-attack and then we were asking a little bit for the equaliser. When they scored I was not completely surprised. But it was most important that we stayed in the game and that is what we did.”
0 – In 72 Premier League visits as a manager to face Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United combined, West Ham’s David Moyes has won none (D21 L51), losing his last 13 such trips in a row. Fruitless. pic.twitter.com/Z5AZbvSp5q
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 24, 2023
Our Verdict:
Jurgen Klopp and his players believes that something promising is taking shape at Liverpool, both in terms of the team’s expectations for this season and the progress of their rejuvenated, talented, and motivated squad.
Liverpool convincingly outperformed West Ham, securing their sixth consecutive victory in all competitions with ease. They are looking in great shape and have second spot in the table.
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They are already giving Manchester City some serious headaches in the early phases of the season.
