West Ham 1 Liverpool 2
A bullet header from Joel Matip gave Liverpool a 2-1 Premier League win over West Ham United that moved them above Tottenham Hotspur and back into the European places after a frenetic end-to-end game at the London Stadium on Wednesday.
The Reds are in sixth spot in the table on 53 points, ahead of Spurs thanks to their far superior goal difference and one point behind Aston Villa with a game in hand as they seek to salvage a disappointing season.
The loss brought an end to a run that saw West Ham take seven points from three games and dropped them one spot to 14th, five points ahead of Leicester City in 18th place.
The visitors had to battle hard for their victory, with West Ham taking the lead in stunning fashion in the 12th minute when Lucas Paqueta cut in from the left and played a one-two with Michail Antonio before firing home from the edge of the area.
That lead lasted only six minutes as Dutch striker Cody Gakpo received a pass in a central position, taking a touch before quickly unleashing a bouncing shot that evaded the dive of Lukasz Fabianski before nestling in the far corner.
It took a brilliant piece of defending by Virgil van Dijk to prevent West Ham going ahead again just before the break as he got a toe to a superb angled ball from Said Benrahma to prevent Antonio from scoring at the far post.
Liverpool dominated possession throughout but the Hammers were dangerous on the break, and they had a brilliant solo goal by Jarrod Bowen ruled out after a VAR review found him to be offside early in the second half.
After having a shot blocked a minute earlier, Matip got the winner in the 67th minute when he powered home a close-range header from Andy Robertson's corner to give his side the lead.
West Ham had a late shout for a penalty turned down when the ball struck the arm of substitute Thiago Alcantara as he went in for a tackle, but the referee waved away their appeals and VAR did not come to their aid as Liverpool hung on for their third win in a row.
Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest climbed out of the relegation zone with a 3-1 victory over Brighton at the City Ground.
Brighton recalled Jason Steele after Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final shoot-out defeat to Manchester United and the goalkeeper saved Brennan Johnson’s early penalty.
Facundo Buonanotte put Brighton ahead after 38 minutes with his first goal for the Seagulls. But an own goal by Pascal Gross on the stroke of half-time spurred Forest on.
Danilo levelled on 69 minutes before Morgan Gibbs-White converted a late spot-kick after the video assistant referee had spotted a handball by Brighton skipper Lewis Dunk. Forest move above Everton and Leicester into 17th as Brighton’s hopes of European football next season suffered a hit.
Frank Lampard’s miserable return to the Chelsea dugout continued as Brentford enjoyed a 2-0 West London derby victory at Stamford Bridge.
This was a fifth consecutive loss for Lampard since he took over from Graham Potter earlier this month.
Brentford led through Cesar Azpilicueta’s first-half own goal after Chelsea had again struggled to create chances and some fans booed off Lampard’s men at the break.
Chelsea’s sixth winless game in a row at home was confirmed when Bees substitute Bryan Mbeumo ran half the length of the pitch unchallenged 12 minutes from time.
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023
