Divock Origi‘s second-half strike saw Liverpool claim a draw at home to West Ham on Sunday, but the Reds were left ultimately disappointed.
Liverpool 2-2 West Ham United
Premier League, Anfield
December 11, 2016
Goals
Lallana 5′ (assist – Mane)
Payet 28′
Antonio 39′
Origi 48′ (assist – Mane)
Looking to move on from their demoralising 4-3 defeat away to Bournemouth last weekend, Liverpool took on the Hammers at Anfield in an important Premier League clash.
Continuing their busy festive schedule, the Reds will have earmarked an opportunity to secure valuable points against an out-of-form side, with West Ham having lost three of their last five league games.
Jurgen Klopp was able to call upon Adam Lallana in his starting lineup, with both Joel Matip and Sadio Mane also shaking off injury worries to take their places in the German’s strong selection.
Liverpool will have been determined not to drop more points in their early bid for the title, but had to settle for a draw against a plucky West Ham side.
- Lallana scores on his return to starting XI
- Karius and Matip errors gift West Ham two
- Origi nets fourth goal in four consecutive games
- Carroll returns against former club
Starting patiently, Liverpool looked to pick their visitors apart and find an opening, with the fluid interchanging of Klopp’s four most advanced players proving key as Lallana netted the first of the afternoon within five minutes.
With Mane surging to the left flank, exchanging passes with Origi, the Senegalese sent a cross into the box for Lallana to touch, turn and fire past Darren Randolph to make it 1-0.
Despite dominating after the goal, Liverpool allowed the Hammers back into the game just before the half-hour mark, with Dimitri Payet curling an excellent free-kick into the bottom corner.
Slavan Bilic’s side took the lead just 12 minutes later, with an error in judgement from Joel Matip allowing Michail Antonio through, with the utility man prodding past Loris Karius to claim the lead.
Mark Clattenburg waved away a clear penalty shout from Lallana just before half-time, before Matip’s header crashed against the crossbar, ensuring the Reds went into the interval behind.
Klopp made a change at the break, replacing Dejan Lovren with Ragnar Klavan, while his words in the dressing room clearly did the job, with Origi netting an equaliser after just two minutes, tapping home following a spill from West Ham goalkeeper Darren Randolph.
This sparked Liverpool into life, and they returned to the form of the opening 25 minutes, with Georginio Wijnaldum coming close to scoring his second goal since joining from Newcastle United.
Bilic sent on former Reds striker Andy Carroll in response, with the most expensive player in the club’s history receiving a warm welcome to Anfield.
Randolph went to great lengths to ensure redemption from his earlier error with the game entering its final 20 minutes, stretching to deny a fine, curling effort from Jordan Henderson.
Liverpool continued to push for a winner, with Nathaniel Clyne firing over after a great move, but leave Anfield with a point, falling further behind in the Premier League title race.
TIA Man of the Match: Sadio Mane
Referee: Mark Clattenburg
Liverpool: Karius; Clyne, Matip, Lovren (Klavan 46′), Milner; Henderson, Lallana, Wijnaldum; Mane, Firmino, Origi
Subs not used: Mignolet, Lucas, Moreno, Alexander-Arnold, Ejaria, Woodburn
West Ham: Randolph; Antonio, Ogbonna, Reid, Cresswell; Obiang, Nordtveit, Noble; Lanzini (Fernandes 78′), Payet, Ayew (Carroll 61′)
Subs not used: Adrian, Pike, Quina, Browne, Fletcher
Next match: Middlesbrough (A) – Premier League – December 14
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