Key events
Virgil van Dijk has a chat. He admits that before West Ham’s goal “I heard him shout” but “these things unfortunately happen”. “There was time to make it right and luckily we did. On to the next.” He’s asked if he’s about to sign a contract extension, and says:
I can tell you I’m very proud today to captain my 100th game for Liverpool. And it was an emotional day, because of the Hillsborough anniversary. The main focus was to get three points, and get a little closer to all of our dreams. Everyone knows how much I love this club, and let’s see what next week will look like.
Mo Salah is indeed the man of the match. This is (some of) what he’s got to say:
West Ham are a good team, they have a good plan, they played better in the second half. They managed to score, and in those circumstances the most important thing was to win the game. Thankfully we did that.
The league table now looks like this. West Ham drop down to 17th on goal difference, thanks to Wolves’ win over Spurs:
Final scores in the other 2pm kick-offs: Chelsea 2-2 Ipswich, Wolves 4-2 Tottenham.
Final score: Liverpool 2-1 West Ham
90+8 mins: And that’s it! A lucky, lucky escape for Liverpool, who had about three good minutes in the second half. Those three minutes were, luckily, enough to break West Ham and score what turned out to be the winner.
90+7 mins: Konate’s limp, tired clearance presents the ball to Kudus, but his cross is straight to Alisson. The crowd cheer his catch like a goal.
90+6 mins: Soufal is booked for dissent. Some more seconds tick by. A minute or so now between Liverpool and a third of the points they currently require.
90+4 mins: West Ham hit the bar now! Kilman crosses, and Fullkrug stoops to send in a very nicely-judged header that hits the bar and rebounds to safety! “If Liverpool do indeed win this despite their second half performance, they will deserve to end up as champions,” writes John Swan. “It’s a well-worn trope that top teams find ways to win despite everything, and Liverpool have had that in spades this season, whereas my team, Arsenal, haven’t (as yesterday’s result showed again). But what is it? Part luck maybe, but mainly I guess bloody-mindedness mixed with enough residual organisation to stumble over the line when the fluency has gone.”
90+1 mins: There will be seven minutes of stoppage time, or thereabouts.
90 mins: All of that came from Paqueta diving, out on the Liverpool right, in search of a cheap free kick as Mac Allister gently pressured him. From there a shot, a save, a corner, a header, a goal.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 West Ham (Van Dijk, 89 mins)
They’ve got their lead back! Mac Allister takes the corner, and Van Dijk rises above Fullkrug and heads in!
89 mins: Now Quansah’s header from Luis Diaz’s cross is blocked, and moments later Mac Allister’s low cross/shot is turned round the post for a corner.
88 mins: Liverpool hit the bar! They work the ball across the area from left to right, and Luis Diaz’s shot takes a slight deflection, clips the top of the bar, and goes over.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 West Ham (Robertson own goal, 86 mins)
West Ham deserve to be level, and now they are! Liverpool have literally given their lead away, Wan-Bissaka’s left-foot cross falls just between Van Dijk and Roberton; Van Dijk half-volleys it into Robertson’s shins, and it rebounds into the corner of the net!
85 mins: As the Egyptian goes off Jamie Carragher says that if the scoreline remains unchanged Salah, a man who has touched the ball four times in the second half, will be his man of the match. His assist, to be fair, was lovely.
84 mins: A final substitution for Liverpool sees Salah go off, and Wataru Endu come on.
82 mins: Robertson is fouled by Van Dijk as both go for a high ball, and the referee charitably awards a free kick.
81 mins: This really is extraordinary. Liverpool have lost all cohesion. They’re giving the ball away, hitting blind passes into empty areas, being overrun in midfield.
78 mins: The visitors win a corner. Before they take it Soler and Todibo go off, and Fullkrug and Guilherme come on.
77 mins: West Ham are dominating now. Paqueta has been excellent, and Wan-Bissaka’s switch to the left has locked down that side.
75 mins: Salah has, Sky say, touched the ball four times this half. He has, however, just won a corner.
71 mins: Wan-Bissaka prods the ball through Konate’s legs to Kudus, whose low shot from an unpromising angle to the left of goal was well saved, and the loose ball not turned in.
69 mins: Liverpool have been poor this half, verging on the rubbish. Salah in particular has hardly been involved at all.
68 mins: Liverpool take off Jones and Bradley and bring on Szoboszlai and Quansah.
67 mins: Another West Ham chance! Bowen is played through, surely just offside, and Alisson’s first run off his line seems to take him out of position, but he corrects himself by the time Bowen looks up, and couldn’t have been in a better place to get in the way of the eventual shot.
63 mins: In tactical tweak news, Wan-Bissaka is now playing on the left against Salah, and Luis Diaz is at centre-forward with Gakpo on the left.
62 mins: Another West Ham chance! Paqueta lifts a pass towards Bowen; Van Dijk gets a foot to the ball and diverts Bowen towards the byline, from where he cuts the ball back to Soler, who biffs over the bar.
59 mins: Two substitutions for Liverpool, with Jota and Tsimikas going off and Cody Gakpo and Andy Robertson replacing them.
57 mins: Vladimir Coufal comes on for Scarles, who Salah toyed with pretty mercilessly in the first half.
56 mins: From the corner there’s a handball shout, as the ball drops over a cluster of players into Ward-Prowse’s outstretched arm. It’s certainly not deliberate, but his arm wasn’t in a natural position. It’s not given, and VAR doesn’t intervene.
54 mins: Save! Mac Allister’s corner is half-cleared and worked back to him. He tries another cross but it drifts and spins towards the goal, and would have dropped in had Areola not pushed it over the bar.
52 mins: Paqueta finds a pass through to Bowen, but Van Dijk closes him down before he can shoot, and anyway he was offside. A second goal here might let Liverpool relax and have some fun, but without one their lead is very precarious.
49 mins: Todibo gets stuck with the ball on the right-hand side of West Ham’s defence, but Jota won’t give him enough time to look up let alone make a pass, and eventually he runs it into touch.
47 mins: Mac Allister hits the bar! The free-kick dips towards the near post, but doesn’t quite get down in time.
46 mins: Tsimikas goes down just outside the left-hand corner of the area after Todibo probably just about clipped an ankle.
46 mins: Peeeeeeep!
The players are back out! Half-time scores in the other Premier League games, by the way: Chelsea 0-2 Ipswich, Wolves 2-0 Tottenham. Not a good day for Londoners (so far).
A dominant half from Liverpool, with Salah’s treatment of Oliver Scarles at times verging on cruelty, but for all that West Ham have made two of the three best chances.
Half time: Liverpool 1-0 West Ham
45+2 mins: And as soon as Alisson takes the goal kick, the whistle goes for half time. Of the one minute of stoppage time signalled, the ball was in play for no more than three seconds.
45+1 mins: Chance for West Ham! Ward-Prowse takes a corner and Mavropanos runs in from deep to win a free header six yards out, but it goes high!
42 mins: Kudus has the ball 25 yards out and thinks he might as well have a shot. It’s not a terrible effort, but it’s both high and wide.
