West Ham 0 – 5 Liverpool
Liverpool ends the year on a high note, hammering West Ham United with five goals and extending their lead at the top of the Premier League table to 8 points under Arne Slot.
The match was a one-sided display of Liverpool’s attacking dominance, leaving West Ham completely overwhelmed. Along with the emphatic victory, Liverpool now firmly cements their position as league leaders.
On Sunday night, Liverpool cruised to a 5-0 victory in the Premier League match at West Ham’s home ground.
Luis Díaz opened the scoring, followed by goals from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah in the first half. In the second half, Trent Alexander-Arnold and substitute Diogo Jota added to the tally.
Salah, in red-hot form, not only scored but also provided two assists during the match.
Liverpool dominated possession, holding nearly 55% of the ball and firing 22 shots, 13 of which were on target. In contrast, West Ham managed only seven shots, none of which troubled Liverpool’s goalkeeper.
With 14 wins and 3 draws in 18 matches, Liverpool now sits on 45 points. Nottingham Forest is in second place with 37 points from one additional match.
Arsenal, with 36 points from 18 games, and Chelsea, with 35 points, hold the third and fourth spots, respectively. Defending champions Manchester City are fifth with 31 points from 19 matches.
The match started with an early chance for West Ham in the sixth minute, but Lucas Paquetá failed to convert Jarrod Bowen’s pass inside the box.
Liverpool responded a minute later with a golden opportunity when Salah’s close-range effort from Gakpo’s through ball was denied by goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. Curtis Jones’ shot in the 16th minute, assisted by Salah, was also saved by Areola.
Liverpool kept pressing and created another chance in the 23rd minute, but Díaz’s shot was skillfully tipped over the crossbar by Areola. However, in the 30th minute, Díaz finally broke the deadlock, smashing home a loose ball in the box.
West Ham almost equalized in the 38th minute when Mohamed Kudus’ low shot from outside the box beat Alisson but struck the post.
Two minutes later, Gakpo doubled Liverpool’s lead with a fortunate deflection after brilliant work from Salah in the box.
Salah made it 3-0 in the 44th minute with a clinical left-footed finish from Jones’ pass, extending his Premier League-leading tally to 17 goals in 18 matches this season.
Early in the second half, Salah came close to scoring again but was denied by Areola in a one-on-one situation after a pass from Alexis Mac Allister.
In the 53rd minute, Alexander-Arnold extended the lead with a thunderous long-range strike from 30 yards, leaving the goalkeeper no chance.
Liverpool missed a few more chances before Jota, who came on as a substitute for Gakpo, completed the rout in the 84th minute with a composed right-footed finish from Salah’s pass.
Liverpool has now scored 16 goals in their last four away matches in the league.
Arne Slot’s side will begin the new year with a Premier League showdown against Manchester United at Anfield on January 5.
