SAN FRANCISCO, October 31, (THEWILL) – Liverpool’s Diogo Jota came off the bench to score a late winner at Anfield as the hosts rallied from a goal down to beat West Ham 2-1.
The Portuguese left winger linked up brilliantly with fellow substitute Switzerland forward Xherdan Shaqiri five minutes from time to ensure the champions denied their in-form opponents a share of the points.
The result ensured that Jurgen Klopp’s charges extended their unbeaten league run at home to 63 games. They have therefore equalled a club record streak set between February 1978 and December 1980.
The Reds began the game in typical fashion by taking complete control of possession and ceaselessly probing a penned-in Hammers’ defence.
However, after holding steady, the visitors showed that they only needed one chance to get on the scoresheet. And they took it when it came. Spanish left midfielder Pablo Fornals latched onto a poor clearance by English defender Joseph Gomez clearance and steered the ball in off a post.
Indeed, the Hammers were good for their lead as they were the best side for large parts of the first half. They kept on probing and finding their way deep into opposition territory with worrying regularity from the hosts’ perspective.
Yet, like many teams before then, they could not entirely manage the Liverpool threat. DR Congo left back Arthur Masuaku clumsily clipped Liverpool Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah in the box leaving the referee no choice but to award a penalty which Salah got up for and converted.
That setback aside, the Hammers came out for the second period brimming with confidence. They underlined their ambition immediately as Masuaku’s cross was almost poked home by Fornals.
While Liverpool still struggled to find some of their cutting edge by the 70th minute, Klopp introduced Shaqiri and Jota.
It was a move that paid almost immediate dividends when Jota turned the ball home after Sadio Mane had been denied from close range.
But, VAR showed the Senegalese forward had fouled Polish goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski in following the ball in. After crosschecking replays, referee Kevin Friend chalked the goal off.
Jota had to wait a while longer for his big moment. And it came with an inch-perfect Shaqiri ball setting him up to thrash the ball home at the Kop end with five minutes remaining.
The result means Liverpool take the top spot on the table while confining West Ham to 12th. But tough fixtures are ahead for the Reds who next have an away tie against Atalanta on Tuesday and a trip to Manchester to trade tackles with City on Sunday. West Ham’s next game is at home to Fulham on Saturday.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
