West Ham United plunged into deeper trouble as Mohamed Salah’s double gave Liverpool victory over Slaven Bilic’s side at the London Stadium.
The Hammers fielded a makeshift backline with several regulars unavailable for selection, while Liverpool were able to call on the services of Sadio Mane ahead of schedule.
West Ham’s defending for atleast three of Liverpool’s four goals was poor, and despite sending on all three of his attacking subs available, Bilic was not able to produce a repeat of their miraculous Cup comeback against Spurs at Wembley, and the home side eventually crashed to a 4-1 defeat- the second time in a row that Liverpool have scored four at the London Stadium.
Salah and Mane combined for the first on the counter after West Ham left only Aaron Cresswell behind on an attacking corner, and paid the price for it. Mark Noble was the unwitting villain for the second, while Winston Reid, just returned from injury, showed that he should perhaps not have been on the park as he was outmuscled by Firmino in the leadup to AOC’s goal, the first of his Reds career.
Salah drilled in a fourth, again on the counter, after West Ham had given the ball away cheaply.
The home side’s only goal was a moment of individual brilliance from Manuel Lanzini, although young Joe Gomez will not look back at the highlight reels too fondly for that one. But otherwise, Simon Mignolet had a relatively quiet evening, with the Hammers mustering just one shot on target.
