Surely now the Premier League title is won. It will be Liverpool’s soon enough. But all those here at a frantic Anfield will know how close Arne Slot’s team came to unimaginable calamity.
Had Liverpool only drawn this game, their lead over Arsenal would have remained at eleven points with six games to go. Game, set and championship. But that’s not always the way football works.
No, football is played in the mind at times like this and here, drawing 1-1 with just a minute of normal time to go, Liverpool’s were utterly scrambled. Having led early through Luis Diaz and being comfortably superior to West Ham in every way, Liverpool’s second half nerves slowly consumed them until the point at which they were totally unrecognisable.
What’s more, West Ham’s equaliser in the 84th minute – an own goal from Andy Robertson – had been catastrophic in every way. And had the game stayed like that – on the back of last week’s defeat at Fulham and other setbacks in cup competitions – one could only speculate as to the effect this would have had on them.
Sometimes footballers forget how to play well and teams forget how to win games. Liverpool were on the precipice of all that here which makes Virgil van Dijk’s headed goal from an 89th minute corner at the Kop End not only one that took his team to within two wins of the title but also one that saved Slot’s team from all the dreadful introspection that would otherwise have been theirs in the coming days.
There was still time for West Ham substitute Niclas Fullkrug to hit the bar in the 94th minute. But Liverpool’s luck held when they most needed it to. So, yes, they are almost there now and nothing should be allowed to detract from what would be a magnificent achievement in Slot’s first season. They could yet breach the 90-point mark and that would also be quite something.
Liverpool scored a late winner to beat West Ham and move closer to the Premier League title
The winning goal came courtesy of Reds captain Virgil van Dijk in the 89th minute at Anfield
Van Dijk’s winner came just moments after left back Andy Robertson had scored an own goal
Nevertheless, this will perhaps be seen as the decisive day, the afternoon that a giant step was taken, no matter how uncertain it looked and felt.
For the first half an hour or more, meanwhile, there was absolutely no sign of what was to come. The shortest straw in football was always likely to be held by whoever had to mark Salah at Anfield two days after he had signed a new contract and here it was young West Ham defender Ollie Scarles.
It was a rough first half for the 19-year-old for sure as Salah found a little of the form that has recently proved elusive. Not that Scarles always helped himself. The youngster seemed too keen at times to try and take the ball off Salah’s toe as it was played in to him and it quickly proved a high tariff policy – fine if it works but not so much if it doesn’t.
Indeed Scarles found himself out thought and out muscled by Salah as Liverpool took a deserved lead in the 18th minute.
As Ibrahima Konate played a ball down the right touchline, Salah turned his man and was away into space. With green grass ahead of him and support to his left, Salah played a cute outside of the foot pass across goal that may well have been aimed at Diogo Jota on the penalty spot.
As it turned out, the ball passed in front of the Portuguese striker and instead ran through to Diaz who scored easily in to an empty goal from six yards.
Liverpool were well worth their lead. They had started the game playing with a freedom and energy and confidence that they had certainly not shown in losing at Fulham seven days ago and arguably hadn’t had much of during the narrow Merseyside derby win over Everton here that had preceded it.
Slot had rotated his team a little bit, and the return of Conor Bradley at right back restored some balance. This allowed Curtis Jones to move out of that position in to midfield and the England player was excellent.
The Reds now need just six points from their last six games to secure the Premier League title
Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah was playing for the first time since signing a new contract
Luis Diaz (left) fired Liverpool 1-0 up in the 18th minute when he tapped home at the far post
Diaz was equally so early on and his early low shot was one of three that troubled West Ham in the first 15 minutes. Alphonse Areola in the West Ham goal saved that one and indeed the last of the three from Jones. In between, Bradley drove low for the far post but a deflection took his shot wide.
Salah almost scored a picture goal in the 17th minute, just a minute before the breakthrough actually arrived. The control he applied to a long Konate pass was breathtaking and his curled shot with his left foot from the angle of the penalty area missed the far post by maybe half a yard.
Ahead soon after, Liverpool were comfortable but couldn’t initially find a second goal. Indeed West Ham almost equalised out of the blue immediately, Mohammed Kudus clipping a shot towards the corner after Alisson Becker had dashed out to close down Carlos Soler. Becker, back in the side after injury, scampered back to touch the ball on to the bar. It was a save that looked better with each replay shown on TV.
Alexis MacAllister came closest to adding to Liverpool’s lead during the remainder of the opening half. He moved on to a neat Salah pass to volley against Areola’s legs at the near post in the 33rd minute but apart from that much of what Liverpool did looked impressive and dangerous until they reached the very final pass. Sometimes moves broke down on the back of carelessness but more often it was the organisation of the West Ham defence that kept the home team at bay.
MacAllister hit the bar with a free-kick in the first minute of the second half. The first had ended with West Ham slightly more assertive and their central defender Konstantino Mavropanos heading a corner over the bar after leaping unmarked seven yards out.
Having said that, West Ham were largely invisible as an attacking force early in the second period as Liverpool played towards the Kop and tried to squeeze Graham Potter’s team in to submission. Liverpool may have had a penalty when a 55th minute corner struck James Ward-Prowse on the arm. It was no shame that referee Andy Madley didn’t see the incident but seemed strange that VAR showed such little interest.
Potter withdrew Scarles at this point and sent on Vladimir Coufal. Soon after Slot made his first changes as Robertson replaced Kostas Tsimikas and Cody Gakpo came on for Jota. Presumably, the Liverpool manager was chasing fresh energy as his team had dropped their levels marginally.
Sensing this, West Ham broke twice on Liverpool and could have scored on either occasion. First Jarrod Bowen picked up Van Dijk’s poor clearance and when he crossed from the left, Soler arrived to side-foot over from the penalty spot. It was definitely in the ‘should have hit the target’ category while minutes later Bowen satisfied that remit only to be denied brilliantly by Alisson after Lucas Paqueta had turned majestically away from Diaz in centre field to play his team mate clear through the middle.
Robertson was furious with Van Dijk over the Dutchman’s role in West Ham’s 86th-minute goal
But Van Dijk quickly atoned for his error by finding the net moments later to secure victory
For the next ten minutes or more, Liverpool became ever more consumed by their own nerves and anxieties. They lost all control of the game and indeed of the territory. And, as West Ham started to attack monotonously, Slot’s team didn’t seem to know how to defend anymore either.
Suddenly, nerves consumed Anfield. In the stands and, more importantly, on the field. With ten minutes of regulation time remaining, it was increasingly hard to remember the last time Liverpool had managed a shot on goal.
During a break in play for a head injury to Robertson, the Kop briefly began a rendition of: ‘We are gonna win the league’. But it felt half-hearted and it was. It also didn’t last very long and before long West Ham finally managed to do what they had threatened for so long.
It was a simply awful goal to concede in so many ways. With four minutes of normal time to go, Aaron Wan-Bissaka ran in to oceans of space vacated by Liverpool’s substitute right back Jarell Quansah. Still Liverpool should have dealt with the West Ham player’s delivery to the near post but instead Robertson and Van Dijk got in each other’s way and the ball ended up in the net off the shin of the Scot.
Anfield fell silent apart from in one corner, where the West Ham supporters celebrated. Liverpool now had ten minutes – included added time – to save themselves and – as is so often the way in these cases – they woke up.
Diaz almost immediately thudded a shot in to Wan-Bissaka’s chest and over. Then, MacAllister drove low to the near post and Areola saved. This proved to be the significant act as when MacAllister delivered the corner to the middle of the area, Van Dijk rose to head in. West Ham complained of a push on Fullkrug and there was indeed a small one. But the truth is that the German had to be stronger. He hadn’t even got off the ground. As such the goal was rightly given.
Anfield was alive again but the game was not over. Max Kilman launched a ball into the penalty area from deep, Fullkrug flicked it goalwards and Alisson was beaten as it looped above him and down on to the crossbar.
That was in the 94th minute. Liverpool got through the next three. Somehow.
