Liverpool grabbed all 3 points against West Ham 1-0

West Ham United fought hard, but
in the game against Liverpool on Wednesday night, Darwin Nunez scored a
first-half header.

The Uruguayan striker scored the
only goal of a difficult match with a header in the 22nd minute.

Five changes were made in Liverpool’s
lineup from the team that made its debut against Manchester City at the
weekend. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Tsimikas came on in defense, Fabio Carvalho
and Jordan Henderson in midfield, and Nunes in attack.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was on
the bench for the first time this season after an injury.

West Ham, however, were not
confused and had chances to get back into the game.

On 44 minutes, Jarrod Bowen
missed an Alisson penalty and after the break Said Benrahma and Tomas Soucek hit
the crossbar, but the visitors couldn’t get the game going and the hosts took
the points.

For Flynn Downs it was the first
game in a Hammers jersey in the Premier League and Kurt Zouma came out in the
center of the defense along with Thilo Kerrer after recovering from illness.

Ellison nearly gave the Hammers a
gift in the third minute when his attempted cross found only Declan Rice, but
the Hammers failed to convert their chance through the captain, Gianluca
Skamaka and Bowen.

The Reds quickly settled down and
soon began to press the visitors, with Nunez in particular creating danger on
the left.

After a quarter of an hour, Trent
Alexander-Arnold dropped a diagonal cross into deep midfield which created
space for the Uruguayan on the opposite flank, who took advantage of it by
crossing on the right, but Lukasz Fabianski was able to head the ball into the
net.

Nunez’s next chance came seven
minutes later when he got on the ball after a Konstantinos Tsimikas pass but
Fabianski managed to clear it with his fingers.

It seemed like Nunez wasn’t done
yet, as he nearly scored his second goal in the 39th minute with a left-footed
shot under the crossbar from the edge of the penalty area. He was also ready to
ricochet, but was unable to direct a further shot into the goal net.

However, West Ham were undaunted
and had a chance to tie the score just before halftime when Joe Gomez clumsily
jumped out on Bowen and sent into the goal.

Referee Stuart Atwell initially
brushed off the foul, but after turning on the VAR monitor, he pointed to the
spot.

The Hammers were awarded a penalty before the break, but Jarrod Bowen’s attempt was thwarted by a flying stop from Alisson Becker.

In the second period, the Hammers
came out with renewed vigor and were better at combining passes in the early
stages of the game, looking for ways to the opponent’s goal.

Liverpool continued to threaten
and, in the 63rd minute, a quick breakthrough down the right flank led to
Jordan Henderson giving a dangerous pass to Roberto Firmino, whose shot was
well blocked by Aaron Cresswell.

The Reds created further opportunities in the second half, however, West Ham threatened an equaliser in the closing stages – most notably when substitute James Milner produced a crucial challenge to deny Tomas Soucek in front of goal.

The Hammers introduced Benrahma and Michael Antonio from the bench, the former taking a shot into the
far corner from Rice’s long-range shot with 20 minutes left, but missed the
target, and Alisson was tackled.

Fabianski had to make another
excellent stop to keep Firmino out from close range after a Brazilian corner
kick, but West Ham finished the game powerfully and were so close to snatching
a point with three minutes to go.

Benraha got ahead of
Alexander-Arnold on the left and crossed the ball to Bowen in the penalty area.
He touched the ball and knocked it toward Soucek, who was only prevented from
scoring by James Milner’s desperate touch and Alisson’s intervention.

Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Carvalho (Jones),
Henderson, Thiago (Fabinho), van Dijk, Tsimikas (Robertson), Salah, Roberto
Firmino (Milner), Núñez (Elliott) 

Substitutes not used: Kelleher, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Phillips,
Clark

Fabiański, Johnson, Kehrer, Zouma, Rice, Souček, Bowen,
Fornals (Benrahma), Cresswell, Downes (Antonio), Scamacca

Substitutes not used: Areola, Randolph,Ogbonna, Coventry,
Coufal, Emerson, Lanzini

Scorers:

Match Stats:

Possession

West Ham United 54%
Southampton 46%

Total Shots

Liverpool 22
West Ham United 8

Shots on Target

Liverpool 7
West Ham United 3

Corners

Liverpool 8
West Ham United 3

Fouls

Liverpool 9
West Ham United8

Attacks

Liverpool 124
West Ham United 95

Dangerous Attacks

Player of the Match: Alisson Ramses Becker
(Liverpool)