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Darwin Nunez extended Liverpool’s revival as the Uruguay forward maintained his own recent resurgence with the decisive goal in Wednesday’s 1-0 win against West Ham.
Jurgen Klopp’s side earned a third successive win in all competitions thanks to Nunez’s strike and a missed penalty from West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen in the first half at Anfield.
It was Nunez’s third goal in his last four appearances as the former Benfica star begins to make himself at home after a disappointing start following his expensive summer move.
The 23-year-old was sent off in his first Premier League game at Anfield against Crystal Palace in August, fuelling unflattering comparisons with Manchester City’s prolific striker Erling Haaland.
But it was too soon to write off Nunez and following Sunday’s 1-0 win against City, Liverpool have recorded consecutive Premier League victories for only the second time this season.
Klopp was in the spotlight after his red card for berating the officials during the City clash, while also finding himself criticised for his pre-match comments about the champions’ spending power.
With Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz out for the foreseeable future, Nunez’s fifth goal this season was a welcome sight for Klopp, ensuring the German was in a more peaceful mood on the touchline.
West Ham have only won once at Liverpool since 1963, so it was little surprise Hammers boss David Moyes admitted this week that “Anfield is probably as hard a place as you can go in the world to try and win a game”.
Moyes knows that better than most after his winless run at the famous old stadium extended to 18 top-flight games.
Player ratings
Liverpool: Alisson (8), Alexander-Arnold (6), Gomez (5), Van Dijk (7), Tsimikas (7), Thiago (7), Henderson (6), Carvalho (6), Firmino (7), Salah (6), Nunez (8).
Subs used: Fabinho (6), Jones (6), Elliott (6), Robertson (6), Milner (8)
West Ham: Fabianski (7), Johnson (6), Kehrer (6), Zouma (6), Cresswell (6), Soucek (6), Rice (7), Downes (6), Fornals (6), Bowen (5), Scamacca (6).
Subs used: Benrahma (6), Antonio (6)
Man of the match: Darwin Nunez
Nunez Stars
Klopp’s men were soon on top and Nunez fired just over from Thiago Alcantara’s pass before Virgil van Dijk headed a corner straight at Hammers keeper Lukasz Fabianski.
Nunez opened the scoring in the 22nd minute as the Uruguay forward met Kostas Tsimikas’s cross with a header that arrowed inside the far post.
Almost netting again two minutes later, Nunez pounced on a West Ham mistake and forced a good stop from Fabianski.
Mohamed Salah dragged a decent opportunity wide, then testing Fabianski with a curling effort.
Nunez was inches away from doubling Liverpool’s lead with a fierce volley from 12 yards that smacked off the post.
After all their pressure, Liverpool nearly surrendered the lead on the stroke of half-time.
Joe Gomez’s needless barge into Bowen was deemed a penalty after referee Stuart Attwell checked the pitchside monitor.
But when Bowen picked himself up to take the spot-kick, he saw his effort well saved by Alisson Becker.
Henderson’s drive was tipped over by Fabianski early in the second half, with Nunez motoring past Thilo Kehrer to fire narrowly off-target moments later.
Despite that flourish, West Ham finished strongly and Said Benrahma almost snatched an equaliser when he shot straight at Alisson after Gomez misjudged a cross.
Tomas Soucek looked certain to equalise in the final minutes but a brilliant block from James Milner preserved the points for Liverpool.
Team news
West Ham made three changes from their draw at Southampton, with Vladimir Coufal, Emerson and the injured Lucas Paqueta out for Kurt Zouma, Flynn Downes – who made his first Premier League start - and Pablo Fornals.
Liverpool made five changes from their win over Man City, with James Milner, Andy Robertson, Fabinho, Harvey Elliott and the injured Diogo Jota making way for Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kostas Tsimikas, Jordan Henderson, Darwin Nunez and Fabio Carvalho.
MANAGERS
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp on Amazon:
"I like a lot of parts in the first half when we played exceptional football. As long as we played football, we were in charge of the game. For some reason, we couldn't do that consistently and the game opened up. The long ball, physicality, they're good at set-pieces... We could have done better but the result is outstanding. There were a lot of moments where we wanted to play more football.
"In between the lines, they had no solutions for us. Fabio received a lot of balls there and Bobby too, and we turned but there were not enough options. We scored a wonderful goal, and Ali doesn't just score or set up goals but he saves them. That was a key moment, that's it.
"If you beat Man City, it's the best you can be. The other weeks are more difficult. We went through so many difficult moments together and it's not done yet. Now we have to go to Nottingham - with the link between the two clubs, it will be a special game. It will be a crazy atmosphere. We have to go, go and go. We can't be picky, we have to take points from everywhere."
On Nunez and why he subbed him off after 57 minutes: "We must be careful with the boys, they all had their issues. The chances he had were exceptional. It's really difficult. In the air, he's a real weapon. The other ones, great saves from Fabianski. He's young, really young and he felt a bit of his hamstring a couple of times. Then you have to make early changes which is fine, we can do that.
"I expect him to put it in the back of the net. He's an exceptional talent. The runs, the speed, physicality and finishing skills. He has a really good technique and sometimes he doesn't use them all the time. Sometimes he's in a rush. We're really excited about it. When you're young, you have time to develop and you have to develop."
Moyes 'really frustrated' and critical of Hammers' finishing
West Ham manager David Moyes was left disappointed as his side were left to rue missed opportunities in their narrow defeat to Liverpool
West Ham boss David Moyes on Amazon: "Really frustrated. In the end, I don't think it would be right if we got something. We are not scoring enough at the moment and there were a few opportunities we didn't quite take.
"Ultimately, we gave the ball away an awful amount in the opening part of the game. That gave Liverpool opportunities to take chances. It was much better in the second half.
"I take a lot of pride of coming here and running them close. Last couple of years we run them close. I thought we could have got a goal that would have got a draw. It's all good saying what we have to do. We haven't done it yet.
"The performance was good, even in the bits in the first half where we didn't play well. We tried to play well and take opportunities. We hung in and stuck at it, second half we tried to do it as well. We took a few risks to get a goal back."
On the penalty and the miss: "I thought it was a penalty. I've not seen it again. My first eye is that the boy's foot was high up and pretty dangerous.
"It's hugely disappointing [to miss another penalty]. You've got to keep getting them and hoping we score them. Mark Noble was brilliant at them, we nearly relied on him he was so good. We are finding that penalty taker to score them. I fancied Jarrod to score. I'll have a think about [changing it] but it's not the time."
OTHER EPL RESULTS:
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