Tag: Liverpool

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Reds battle back from the brink

Liverpool are through to the Carabao Cup semi-finals after edging Leicester 5-4 in a penalty shootout having overturned a two-goal deficit in a gripping 3-3 draw.

Caoimhin Kelleher saved two Leicester penalties before Diogo Jota – a key figure off the bench – converted the crucial kick to send Jurgen Klopp’s much-changed Reds through.

A Vardy brace had initially put the visitors 2-0 up early on at Anfield, and although Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain got Liverpool on the scoreboard, a spectacular Maddison strike had Leicester cruising at the break.

But half-time substitute Jota reduced the deficit again after the hour and Takumi Minamino equalised deep into stoppage time to force a shootout.

Minamino was the sole Red to miss his kick, but it mattered not as Kelleher denied Luke Thomas and Ryan Bertrand to allow Jota to wrap things up.

It had all looked so promising for Leicester when Vardy had them two up in the 13th minute, finishing off incisive passes from Maddison and then Patson Daka.

The Reds quickly pulled one back, Oxlade-Chamberlain slamming home from 18 yards after being teed up by Roberto Firmino.

But Maddison soon restored Leicester’s two-goal cushion, blasting past Kelleher from distance as the ball sat up kindly.

Vardy then hit the post in a one-on-one situation.

A seemingly perturbed Klopp made three changes at the break, and one of them paid dividends as Jota fired beyond Kasper Schmeichel, setting up a tense final 20 minutes.

Minamino struck a dramatic equaliser right at the end and would have sealed the win had he not hit the crossbar with his effort in the following shootout, but Kelleher and then Jota spared his blushes to send Liverpool through.

Liverpool’s record in this competition has not been great in recent years, but they overcame that with a real show of character here.

Their semi-final tussle with Arsenal early next year will be their first appearance in the last four of the EFL Cup since 2016-17 and boosts their hopes of winning silverware before the end of the season.

Granted, Liverpool will have their sights on loftier prizes, but it is always good to be in the conversation for trophies.

Vardy was on fire in the first half, but Jota’s introduction at the break for Liverpool proved inspirational. 

Not only did he get the goal that provided a spark of hope, but he went close with another effort and then held his nerve for the crucial penalty. 

Klopp gave him a huge embrace at full-time, highlighting just how important the Portugal forward was.

Young centre-back Billy Koumetio was making his first start for the senior side but he endured a difficult 45 minutes before being withdrawn. 

The Reds’ backline was not helped by a lack of midfield protection, but Koumetio routinely struggled to get close enough to Daka and Vardy, who ran riot before half-time.

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SON EARNS SPURS A THRILLING DRAW WITH LIVERPOOL

Son Heung-min gave Tottenham Hotspur a 2-2 draw in an enthralling match with Liverpool, who were reduced to 10 men in the second half.

Harry Kane slotted Spurs ahead on 13 minutes, his first home goal of the season, after Tanguy Ndombele had played him in.

Spurs had chances to increase their lead, the best of which coming when Alisson denied Dele Alli.

Liverpool levelled on 35 minutes, when Diogo Jota headed in Andrew Robertson’s cross.

Alisson made an incredible close-range stop to deny Kane before Liverpool went ahead on 69 minutes when Robertson nodded in Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross.

However, Spurs levelled five minutes later when Alisson’s mistake allowed Son to roll the ball into an empty net.

Liverpool had to protect their point after Robertson was sent off with 13 minutes left to play for a reckless challenge on Emerson Royal.

Spurs extend their unbeaten run to five matches and stay seventh with 26 points, six behind Arsenal in fourth with three fixtures in hand.

Liverpool remain second but are three points behind leaders Manchester City.

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MOHAMED SALAH ON TARGET AS LIVERPOOL EASE TO VICTORY OVER NEWCASTLE

Liverpool made light of the Covid-enforced absences of Virgil Van Dijk and Fabinho to comfortably beat struggling Newcastle 3-1 at Anfield and become the first English side in history to register 2,000 top-flight victories.

Mohamed Salah equalled Jamie Vardy’s record of providing a goal or an assist in 15 consecutive Premier League appearances with his 22nd strike of the season after Diogo Jota had equalised former Reds midfielder Jonjo Shelvey’s early effort.

Trent Alexander-Arnold made sure of the three points during the unnecessarily tense closing stages with a 25-yard blast.

Salah now has 24 Premier League goal involvements this season (15 goals, nine assists) and only only Alan Shearer, in 1994-95, has more (25) before Christmas.

Liverpool also set yet another club record of scoring for a 32nd successive game in all competitions, beating their previous best from January 1958.

Victory moved Jurgen Klopp’s side back to within a point of leaders Manchester City, edging three ahead of Chelsea after they could only draw at home to a severely-weakened Everton.

Rumours circulating all day about a coronavirus outbreak in Liverpool’s squad were confirmed shortly before 7pm when it was announced Van Dijk, Fabinho and Curtis Jones had all tested positive.

With some prescience Klopp, in his programme notes, had written about the pandemic and his support of the vaccination process, saying: “Ignore those who pretend to know. Ignore lies and misinformation. Listen to people who know best. If you do that, you end up wanting the vaccine and the booster.”

It did not help his present predicament, however, although he admitted before kick-off with only three players down there was never any chance they would ask for a postponement.

And why would he when he was able to bring in £36million summer signing Ibrahima Konate and Jota, for his 50th appearance for the club.

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe looked to have one eye on damage limitation as he surprisingly rested leading scorer Callum Wilson.

What was even more of a surprise was the visitors taking the lead as Thiago Alcantara had a minute to forget.

His mis-kick deep in enemy territory ended with him feebly clearing a cross inside his own penalty area straight to Shelvey, who wrong-footed an unsighted Alisson Becker from distance.

Shelvey ran the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the visiting fans. Klopp gave a wry smile.

Liverpool’s immediate response saw Sadio Mane hit a post, only to be flagged offside, Konate plant a free header wide and Andy Robertson fire into the side-netting.

But then they struck twice inside five minutes – although their equaliser was bitterly contested by Newcastle.

With Isaac Hayden down in the six-yard area after a corner Mane swung over a cross which Jota headed goalwards and then pounced on the rebound from Martin Dubravka.

Howe and a number of his players were furious the game was not halted, and referee Mike Dean’s decision not to stop the action again in the 25th minute led to another goal, although this time his judgement could not questioned.

Just 95 seconds previously Allan Saint-Maximin had forced Alisson into a save after another of his quick counter-attacking runs but when Mane looked to have been fouled on the edge of Newcastle’s area Dean waved play on.

The Senegal international managed to get off a shot which Dubravka could only push out to Salah who ran in to fire past a Newcastle goalkeeper for the fifth successive time at Anfield.

Jota hooked over a volley and Salah, released by Oxlade-Chamberlain’s lobbed pass, rolled a shot past Dubravka and wide of the far post as Liverpool finished the half strongly.

There was not the same fluency after the break and only a perfectly-timed sliding Trent Alexander-Arnold tackle prevented Ryan Fraser having a clear shot, while Alisson struggled to get across to Shelvey’s free-kick as it whistled past his right-hand post.

Sensing their chance Howe sent on Wilson for the final 15 minutes, although it was for the injured Saint-Maximin.

Jota had a shot blocked on the line but there was no stopping Alexander-Arnold’s hammer blow which inflicted back-to-back defeats for Howe.

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Mo Salah consigns Gerrard to Anfield defeat

Mohamed Salah scored his 21st goal of the season as Liverpool beat Aston Villa 1-0 on the day Steven Gerrard returned to Anfield.

Villa boss Gerrard was given a great reception by fans who worshipped him during an outstanding playing career that saw the former captain establish himself as a Liverpool legend.

Gerrard was unable to prevent Liverpool from extending their winning run to seven matches, Salah tucking home a 67th-minute penalty after he was brought down by Tyrone Mings.

Jurgen Klopp’s in-form side dominated Villa, although Danny Ings may have been unfortunate not to be awarded a late penalty, and second-placed Liverpool remain a point behind Premier League leaders Manchester City.

15 – Mohamed Salah has scored each of his last 15 Premier League penalties, just the second player to score as many consecutively in the competition, after Matthew Le Tissier (23 in a row between January 1994 and April 2000). Guarantee.

Sadio Mane thought he had been pulled back by Matty Cash in the penalty area early on, and Emiliano Martinez showed sharp reactions to keep out Andy Robertson’s header as the Reds applied pressure from the start.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s dipping long-range drive was just over the crossbar before the dangerous Robertson went down under a challenge from Marvelous Nakamba, but both referee Stuart Attwell and the VAR again saw nothing untoward.

The agile Martinez stuck out his left hand to superbly deny Salah at his near post after the prolific forward had cut in from the right, with Villa standing firm to weather the storm in the rain.

Martinez palmed the unmarked Virgil van Dijk’s powerful header into the Kop and Diogo Jota replaced Oxlade-Chamberlain 12 minutes into the second half.

There was huge relief for the majority of a packed crowd when Salah made the breakthrough midway through the second half, firing into the bottom-right corner after Mings upended the Egypt international with a clumsy challenge.

Alisson might have been lucky not to concede a penalty when Ings went down late on after a mix-up between the Liverpool goalkeeper and Joel Matip, as Villa were unable to force a late equaliser.


What does it mean? Relentless Reds march on

Salah was Liverpool’s match-winner yet again as he earned and converted the decisive penalty to end battling Villa’s resistance.

The Merseyside club have only conceded twice in seven matches and stay just behind City, who beat Wolves 1-0 earlier in the day, while third-placed Chelsea needed a last-gasp Jorginho penalty to see off Leeds United 3-2.

This was a second defeat of his Villa tenure for Gerrard, who made 710 appearances for Liverpool, and they did not pose a threat until late in the game.

Spot-on Salah

Salah has now found the back of the net with his last 15 penalties in the Premier League. Only Southampton great Matthew Le Tissier (23 in a row between January 1994 and April 2000) has scored many consecutive spot-kicks in the competition.

Former Chelsea and Roma man Salah had six goal attempts here, hitting the target with two.

Robertson was a standout performer for the Reds and gave a Cash a tough afternoon. The Scotland left-back provided three key passes and made the most passes by a Liverpool player in the Villa half with 50. He also came close to an opening goal in the first half.

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SALAH NETS BRACE AS LIVERPOOL CLAIM RECORD-BREAKING VICTORY AT EVERTON

Liverpool piled more pressure on former manager Rafael Benitez with a record-breaking 4-1 win over Everton at Goodison Park in the 239th Merseyside derby.

In maintaining their current Premier League average of three goals per game, Jurgen Klopp’s side became the first top-flight English team to score at least twice in 18 successive fixtures in all competitions.

Mohamed Salah’s figures continue to be equally impressive as his double, after Jordan Henderson’s opener, made it 19 goals in as many appearances.

His first was a beautifully-crafted curling shot across Jordan Pickford into the far corner but his second was all about a predatory instinct.

With the score at 2-1 after Demarai Gray pulled one back just before half-time, he seized on a calamitous error by Everton captain Seamus Coleman to race the length of the pitch to score.

Diogo Jota lashing a shot past Pickford’s near post was the last thing Benitez – now eight matches without a win and just two points from a possible 24 – wanted to see.

For some fans it was the last thing they did see as they began to stream for the exits.

The game was played on the 62nd anniversary of Bill Shankly’s appointment as Liverpool manager and the early part of the second half in particular was something of a throwback as Everton put up a brief fight which had been lacking in the majority of their previous seven matches.

But that aside, the amount of space Liverpool were given in midfield in a Merseyside derby was barely believable.

Everton’s players were so far off the pace the visitors were able to play through them at will with Henderson running the show in the first 20 minutes.

Joel Matip’s header and two efforts from Salah, one denied by a smart low save from Pickford, could have put Klopp’s side ahead before Henderson actually did in the ninth minute.

A ball over the top to Sadio Mane had players looking for an offside flag but – in the meantime – the ball was moved on to Andy Robertson who cut back for Henderson, unsurprisingly unmarked inside the penalty area considering Everton’s earlier failings, and he coolly passed the ball beyond Pickford with his weaker left foot.

Had it not been for their goalkeeper, Everton would have been buried before half-time as he also saved from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mane but was powerless to deny the class of Salah.

Caught in possession midway in the opposition’s half, Everton were left chasing shadows as Henderson’s inch-perfect through-ball inside left-back Lucas Digne sent the Egypt international racing clear and he clinically beat Pickford with a curling left-footed shot placed into the far corner.

Fittingly considering the impact Salah has had, it was the 500th league goal scored in Klopp’s 234th game.

The atmosphere was starting to turn inside Goodison and seeing Andros Townsend and Gray booked for diving did nothing to help the mood.

Alexander-Arnold slicing a Richarlison cross over his own crossbar appeared the closest Everton would come to troubling Liverpool’s goal before, out of nothing, they gave themselves a lifeline.

Mane lost possession wide on the left and Richarlison quickly slotted the ball through to Gray, who charged down through the middle to fire in a shot which Alisson Becker could not keep out.

It was Everton’s first goal in a month and one which saw Gray equal his joint-best Premier League scoring season, matching the four he got for Leicester in 2018-19.

The goal injected new life into the crowd and the players with even lumbering 32-year-old striker Salomon Rondon suddenly finding the energy to press the central defenders.

Mane’s goal-bound header blocked by Ben Godfrey just before the break suggested the pain was not over for Everton.

Benitez’s side came out galvanised for the second half and were making a contest of it until one error decided the game.

When Liverpool cleared a corner the ball was passed back by Gray to Coleman but the Toffees captain miscontrolled and the Egyptian brilliantly seized the opportunity, racing from halfway to roll a shot past Pickford.

Benitez – yet to beat his former side in seven attempts in domestic competition – tried his best to encourage and cajole renewed effort from his players but it was a hopeless task without his still-injured main striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and Jota made things worse in the 79th minute.

As Blues fans made a swift exit, the visiting Reds supporters entertained themselves with chants of “Rafa’s at the wheel” – a cruel twist on the song they taunted Manchester United fans with after their 5-0 win at Old Trafford in October.

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FORMER LIVERPOOL AND ARSENAL PLAYER RAY KENNEDY DIES AT 70.

Former Liverpool and Arsenal player Ray Kennedy has died at the age of 70, the Merseyside club have announced.

Kennedy won three European Cups and five league titles with the Reds, whom he joined from Arsenal in 1974 having done the league and FA Cup double with the Gunners three years earlier.

A personal highlight was his pivotal away goal in the 1981 European Cup semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich.

He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 1984 and a testimonial game between Liverpool and Arsenal was held in 1991.

Later that year he sold his medals and 17 England caps to help raise funds for his care.

A statement on Liverpool’s official website read: “The thoughts of everybody at Liverpool FC are with Ray’s family and friends at this sad and difficult time.”

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DIOGO JOTA HITS BRACE AS LIVERPOOL THRASH SORRY SAINTS AT ANFIELD

Liverpool turned up the pressure on Premier League leaders Chelsea as they coasted to a second successive 4-0 victory at Anfield with Southampton the powerless victims on this occasion.

Saints were dispatched as comfortably as Arsenal were a week ago as Jurgen Klopp’s side moved within a point of the top, in the process becoming the first top-flight team to score two or more goals for 17 matches in a row since Sunderland in 1927.

Second-placed Liverpool have now netted 39 times in 13 matches and no player has more Premier League goals individually this season than any of the starting front three of Mohamed Salah (11), Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota (both seven).

Jota added a couple to his tally from a combined distance of seven yards, midfielder Thiago Alcantara made it two in two games shortly before half-time and Virgil Van Dijk killed off any fanciful hopes of a Southampton comeback just after the break.

It was the perfect preperation heading into a midweek Merseyside derby at Goodison Park and a reunion with former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez.

The trend for Southampton, however, remains a downward one after last week’s defeat at Norwich.

Only three league wins all season – only one of those away from home – leaves them just five points above the bottom three with the four teams immediately below them all with a match in hand.

They had not won on this ground since 2013 and not scored on their last five visits so the omens were not good, but conceding the fastest goal of the Premier League season after just 97 seconds was the worst possible start.

The returning Andy Robertson – one of six changes from the midweek Champions League win over Porto – resumed his marauding left-back role after not starting the last two matches because of injury and made an immediate impact.

He combined with Mane down the left to get to the byline and pull back a cross for Jota – who seconds earlier had squandered a chance on the breakaway by delaying too long – to score from close range.

Mane’s header from Robertson’s free-kick was ruled out for offside while Salah curled a shot wide of the far post after robbing Mohammed Salisu on the edge of the area.

After Jordan Henderson ballooned over a good chance, Jota doubled his tally in the 32nd minute with the 700th goal of Klopp’s tenure after Southampton were cut open down their right side this time.

Thiago’s ambitious crossfield pass was recovered by Trent Alexander-Arnold, feeding Salah to then collect a clever return pass from Henderson and slide a low cross which Jota who could not miss from a couple of yards out.

The Portugal international was denied a first-half hat-trick by a block from Lyanco but the Southampton defender could only deflect the ball into the net when Thiago blasted a shot from just inside the area moments later after a delicious drop of the shoulder opened up the space

But, for all their superiority in the final third, Klopp’s side were still leaving the back door open and had the visitors been sharper they would have had something to show for their first-half efforts.

Armando Broja was denied by Alisson Becker after nipping in front of, and outpacing, Ibrahima Konate while Liverpool’s goalkeeper saved well down to his right to deny the unmarked Adam Armstrong, who looked certain to score.

Mane’s visible annoyance when Salah failed to find neither him nor Jota in a three-on-two break indicated there would be no letting up, and shortly after half-time the fourth goal duly arrived courtesy of a low Van Dijk volley from Alexander-Arnold’s corner.

Konate’s sliding block and recovery to deny Armstrong, together with Alisson, from a Saints counter-attack maintained a third successive clean sheet.

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UCL: LIVERPOOL MAINTAIN PERFECT RECORD WITH WIN OVER PORTO

Midfielder Thiago Alcantara swept away 14 months of frustration with one swing of his cultured right foot to set Liverpool on the way to a 2-0 victory over Porto and a record Champions League group stage points haul.

The Spain midfielder’s sweetly-struck low half-volley early in the second half was worthy of winning any game and the fact it came in a dead-rubber having already qualified for the last 16 should not diminish the quality of the goal.

Mohamed Salah scored for the fourth time in three meetings against this opposition to take his personal Champions League tally to 32 with Steven Gerrard’s European record of 41 well within his sights.

But while the Egypt international has shone for the entire time he has been at Anfield it has been a less successful time for Thiago.

However, when it came his goal was nothing less than could be expected of the playmaker, whose arrival from Bayern Munich in a £20million deal in the summer of 2020 was hailed as being the signing to take Jurgen Klopp’s side to the next level.

He endured a mixed start to his Anfield career, contracting Covid-19 shortly after arriving and then missing almost three months with a knee injury sustained in his first Merseyside derby.

This, though, was one of his better days as he gradually warmed to the occasion after a side showing four outfield changes – including two in the back four – from Saturday’s victory over Arsenal struggled for cohesion.

Thiago began to find his range midway through the first half and his perfectly-weighted pass to pick out Sadio Mane to run through and slide a shot across Diogo Costa appeared to have made the breakthrough only for VAR to rule it out by the tightest of offside margins.

That was merely an appetiser as he saved his best of the night for in front of the Kop, caressing a 25-yard shot past Costa after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s free-kick was only half-cleared.

While the 30-year-old Thiago was impressing a fellow midfielder 11 years his junior was enjoying his Champions League debut.

Five days after his first Premier League appearance, academy graduate Tyler Morton slotted in between the Spaniard and Oxlade-Chamberlain and showed he could do a job at this level with some important defensive work, with one back-tracking run into the penalty area cutting out a dangerous cross at 0-0.

Klopp’s changes did not help their early cohesion and Porto, with much more to play for, immediately seized the initiative but failed to take advantage due to some poor finishing and good defensive work from Morton and Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Mehdi Taremi’s header was deflected wide but Otavio will still be wondering how he side-footed when faced with an open goal after Evanilson broke clear down the left.

Not much was going right at the other end for Liverpool either as when Costa’s hurried clearance rebounded off Mane Salah was unable to get enough power on his shot to trouble the goalkeeper.

The loss of experienced defender Pepe, who made his competitive debut before Morton was even born, to injury afforded the hosts an opening but VAR denied them the lead.

Porto’s profligacy continued in the second half with Matheus Uribe shooting wide from a corner and it was the last real sight of goal they got as although the breakthrough was 52 minutes in arriving it was more than worth the wait.

Takumi Minamino had a volley ruled out for offside but there was no denying Salah, who cut in from the left to score a trademark goal this time with a shot inside the near post.

It was his sixth of the group stage, equalling Roberto Firmino’s record from 2017-18 – with still one match to go.

In adding a second Liverpool became the first English top-flight side in 82 years to score two or more goals in 16 consecutive matches.

Victory also brought up 15 points – beating their previous best of 14 set in 2008-09 – as they remain on course to be the first English side to win all six group games.

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FOUR-STAR LIVERPOOL END ARSENAL’S UNBEATEN RUN IN EMPHATIC FASHION

Liverpool returned to winning ways in emphatic fashion as they put Arsenal to the sword with a 4-0 victory which halted the Gunners’ 10-match unbeaten run.

Having seen their unbeaten start to the season ended at West Ham before the international break, Jurgen Klopp’s side responded in style with a comprehensive dismantling of their opponents, who had arrived looking to leapfrog their hosts into the top four.

But for all Arsenal’s recent improvement Liverpool’s quality shone through as they eased back into second place, four points behind Chelsea, after a 15th consecutive game in which they scored more than twice – the longest run by an English top-flight club since Wolves’ 16 in 1939.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta, remembered here for his time as an Everton player, discovered to his cost the dangers of rattling Anfield’s cage as a touchline bust-up with Klopp ignited the atmosphere and energised the home side.

It was that incident which saw the match catch fire as Liverpool’s players used the injection of emotion to press home their territorial advantage with goals from Sadio Mane, in the first half, Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah and substitute Takumi Minamino – with his first touch.

Arteta appeared to have done his homework and his side started compact and organised but looking to hit their hosts on the counter-attack.

Nevertheless, he still had to rely on Aaron Ramsdale to continue his good form Having parried a volley from Thiago Alcantara, in the side as Jordan Henderson was only deemed fit enough for the bench after an injury on England duty, Mane got the follow-up caught under his body, allowing the goalkeeper to save.

Later in the first half Ramsdale was also able to deny Salah from close range and Trent Alexander-Arnold from distance.

But before that came the turning point of the half, and it did not occur on the pitch.

Mane went up for a header with Takehiro Tomiyasu but, for some reason seemingly unapparent to the majority watching, Arteta was incensed. and had it not been for the England international Arsenal would have left with a much worse result than they did.

Klopp offered a word of disagreement, causing his opposite number to fly off the handle which led to both managers being separated by their respective coaching staff and then booked by referee Michael Oliver.

That raised the noise level at Anfield and when lone defender Fabinho’s last-ditch but perfectly-timed tackle to dispossess Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – earlier flagged offside as Alexandre Lacazette thrashed his square pass into the empty Kop net – as he threatened to race clear the roar was visceral.

It was matched only by the one which greeted Mane’s goal when he nodded home Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick having been left unmarked in the six-yard area.

Mane was then booked for hacking at Ben White as the ball trickled out of play as the atmosphere remained febrile.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was desperate to impress against his old side and when the influential Fabinho intercepted Bukayo Saka’s pass the former Gunners midfielder steered a shot wide of the post.

But seven minutes into the second half Liverpool doubled their lead as Arteta’s insistence his side play out from the back fell foul of Klopp’s pressing game.

Having won the ball off Alexander-Arnold, Nuno Tavares cut inside but blindly rolled a pass straight to Jota who could not believe his luck, showing real composure to side-step Ramsdale and score into an empty net.

Arsenal were being pinned back in their own half with any notion of counter-attacking merely a second thought as Liverpool went in for the kill, Ramsdale denying Mane and Jota twice.

The Arsenal goalkeeper could do nothing about the third 17 minutes from time when Mane burst down the left to cross for Salah to volley home his 16th of the campaign, before Minamino scored his first Anfield goal just 48 seconds after replacing Jota.

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WESTHAM END LIVERPOOL UNBEATEN RUN AS THEY CLIMB UP TO THIRD

West Ham leapfrogged Liverpool into third and denied Jurgen Klopp’s side a piece of club history with a stunning 3-2 victory.

Liverpool arrived at the London Stadium knowing that if they avoided defeat they would extend their unbeaten run to 26 matches, beating the club’s all-time record set by Bob Paisley’s team in 1982.

They looked on course to do just that following a wonderful free-kick from Trent Alexander-Arnold.

But West Ham mean business as well this season and proved it when Pablo Fornals, whose corner had been palmed in by Reds keeper Alisson for the opening goal, broke away to score a second.

Kurt Zouma then headed a third and although Divock Origi pulled one back with seven minutes remaining, the Hammers held on for a famous victory.

West Ham took the lead in the fourth minute when Alisson, under pressure from Angelo Ogbonna as he leapt for the ball, touched Fornals’ corner into the net.

After a lengthy VAR review, for a possible foul and then handball, the goal was awarded, much to Klopp’s dismay.

Diogo Jota, starting in place of the injured Roberto Firmino, could have equalised on the half hour but sent his header from Jordan Henderson’s cross over the crossbar, while Alexander-Arnold’s volley was also too high.

But it was not the first-half performance of a side who had scored at least three goals in their last six away matches in the league.

However, with five minutes of the half remaining Liverpool were awarded a contentious free-kick on the edge of the area when Mohamed Salah went down under Declan Rice’s challenge.

West Ham lined-up an eight-man wall, complete with Fornals as the ‘draught excluder’, but Alexander-Arnold bypassed it with a simple one-yard pass to Salah to his right.

It left the England right-back with the simpler task of lifting the ball over Jarrod Bowen on the end of the wall, rather than the imposing Rice, Dawson and Tomas Soucek, and he curled a superb effort up and over while leaving Hammers keeper Lukasz Fabianski totally wrong-footed.

Michail Antonio passed up a glorious chance to put West Ham back ahead when he was sent clean through by Said Benrahma, only for his control to badly let him down at the wrong time, and Bowen was thwarted by a perfectly-timed Virgil Van Dijk challenge in the area in stoppage time.

At the start of the second half Dawson’s header from another corner came back off the crossbar, while at the other end Sadio Mane’s volley was kept out by Fabianski.

It was Bowen, a player Klopp readily admits he admires, who unlocked the Liverpool defence in the 67th minute after Dawson and Rice smuggled the ball away for West Ham from inside their own half.

The forward ran at the back-pedalling Liverpool rearguard, drawing defenders in, before slipping the ball to Fornals who ran through to fire past Alisson.

There was more to come. Antonio and Fornals were denied by Alisson before Bowen floated in a 75th-minute corner and the unmarked Zouma nodded it in at the far post.

Origi turned and fired home from 18 yards to set up a grandstand finish, but Liverpool could not find an equaliser – Mane coming closest when he headed wide in stoppage time – and Hammers boss David Moyes celebrated a place in the top three and a first win over Klopp in eight attempts.