Liverpool defeated West Ham thanks to a beautiful goal from Darwin Nunez, extending their undefeated streak to 18 games across all competitions.
David Moyes, the manager of West Ham, has now lost 24 Premier League games to Liverpool, which ties him with Harry Redknapp for the most losses by a manager to a single side.
After being fouled by Nayef Aguerd, Mohamed Salah gave Liverpool the lead against the flow of play with a penalty. Vladimir Coufal’s cross was received well by Jarrod Bowen’s stooping header to bring West Ham level.
Soon after, Curtis Jones’ goal for Liverpool was disallowed for offside. With a challenging hooked volley from Alexis Mac Allister’s clipped ball over the top, Nunez gave them the lead. The Hammers had good play at times, but they never generated a clear-cut opportunity to balance the score. Ultimately, Diogo Jota’s close-range diving header finish from Virgil van Dijk’s assist secured the victory.
Klopp’s team continues a strong start to the season
On Thursday, both teams competed in Europa League games, and Moyes and Jurgen Klopp each made nine changes from those games. With a win, West Ham would have matched their greatest Premier League season’s opening stretch of 13 points from six games in 1999-2000.
They had the better opening, and Alisson had to crouch down low to stop Tomas Soucek’s header from heading into the bottom corner. The Reds’ first serious chance came after Michail Antonio’s header went wide; Salah’s first goal, a penalty he earned himself following a swift counter, was the outcome.
After David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Sergio Aguero, and Erling Haaland, Salah is the sixth player to either score or assist a goal in each of his team’s opening six games of a Premier League season. Following that, the Reds improved, and Salah, Mac Allister, and Van Dijk—all of whom had served their Premier League suspensions—all missed the goal.
West Ham then equalised as Bowen heroically dove to head Coufal’s cross past Alisson and inside the post. Since Vic Watson in 1929–30, Bowen is the only player to score in all four of West Ham’s away games in a top-flight season.
The Reds, though, never looked back when Nunez skillfully volleyed a ball past Alphonse Areola. A corner routine resulted in the victory. Jota could not miss from within the six-yard box after Andy Robertson found Van Dijk, who headed down.
Liverpool does not yet appear to be at its peak, but they did so much better than they did for the whole of last season. Their league-leading 17-game streak without a loss is a full 10 games longer than any other team’s current run.
Only behind Manchester City, they are second in the standings, making us question whether this is a position we will become accustomed to as the season progresses.
