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LAST UPDATE | 3 hrs ago
LIVERPOOL’S TRANSFORMATION FROM set-piece failures to the top-flight’s in-form side underpinned a 5-2 win over West Ham which maintained their bid for Champions League qualification.
Hugo Ekitike, Virgil van Dijk and Alexis Mac Allister scored from first-half corners, becoming only the second team in the competition’s history after Manchester United in 2016 to do so.
Cody Gakpo scored his first league goal in eight matches and the nerves were eased when Axel Disasi turned in Jeremie Frimpong’s cross after Tomas Soucek and Taty Castellanos had made things a little less comfortable.
Liverpool moved level with fourth-placed Manchester United having reduced their goal difference disadvantage to one goal, while blowing a hole in the Hammers’ recent revival after taking 11 points from 18.
At the turn of the year Arne Slot’s side had the worst record in terms of set-piece balance – the difference between the number scored and conceded – leading to sacking of coach Aaron Briggs.
Since New Year’s Day they have scored nine and conceded three, the best form of any top-flight team in that period.
Slot had argued part of their struggles in the first half of the season had just been down to bad luck but that appears to have changed, especially as their xG for the opening 45 minutes was just 0.7.
After their added-time winner at Nottingham Forest last weekend it took Liverpool just five minutes to make the breakthrough.
West Ham, who have now won just once in 59 visits to Anfield, twice failed to clear a corner, and Ryan Gravenberch squared for Ekitike to fire through the legs of Konstantinos Mavropanos with a slight deflection to beat Mads Hermansen.
It was the France international’s 16th goal of the season and 11th in the league, with only Erling Haaland, Igor Thiago and Antoine Semenyo scoring more.
West Ham’s response saw Mavropanos fire wildly over from six yards and Crysencio Summerville almost spring a counter-attack goal from another Liverpool corner, with Mac Allister eventually blocking Aaron Wan Bissaka’s shot.
Gravenberch forced Hermansen into a low save before Van Dijk headed in Dominik Szoboszlai’s inswinging corner – a tactic they had barely used in the first half of the season – for his third in eight games and fifth of the campaign to equal last year’s tally.
Only John Terry (41) has more Premier League goals by a central defender, excluding penalties, than the Netherlands captain (28).
A comedy of errors followed as Summerville tackled one of his own players as he tried to shoot and then Alisson Becker passed the ball straight to Jarrod Bowen with the goalkeeper having to pounce on the rebound.
Gravenberch then did the same but the winger’s touch took him too wide, with Alisson saving at his near post from Soucek as West Ham threatened again.
When Ekitike guided Salah’s far-post corner back for Mac Allister to volley home the game appeared over with Hammers boss Nuno Espirito Santo despondently sat rewatching the goal on a monitor in the dugout.
But four minutes into the second half Soucek converted Malick Diouf’s low cross after Ibrahima Konate could only flick on Bowen’s cross and Gravenberch failed to track the run of the West Ham midfielder.
Gakpo sliced wide a volley from six yards before scoring with a much better effort, cutting in on the angle and shooting inside the far post, and although Castellanos raised the visitors’ hopes with 15 minutes to go, Disasi’s own goal ended them.
Written by Press Association and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.
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