Liverpool ended their woeful run of results as Alexander Isak's first Premier League goal for the club proved to be the difference at West Ham.
The Reds travelled to East London off the back of three successive three-goal defeats at the hands of Manchester City, Nottingham Forest and PSV Eindhoven. But Arne Slot's side were able to relieve the pressure on their manager, whose bold call in the build-up was vindicated by the result and performance.
Slot opted to drop Mohamed Salah for the first time in the Premier League this season, explaining pre-match: “We play 4 games in 10 days. Sometimes Alex is on the bench, sometimes Florian. This is the 11 I chose today. It’s never an easy decision to make, it’s not the first time I’ve done this”.
Mohamed Salah was an unused substitute against West Ham (Image: Michael Zemanek/Shutterstock)
In doing so, Slot moved Dominik Szoboszlai, who has been Liverpool’s best player this season, out to the right to accommodate Florian Wirtz, while Hugo Ekitike was also benched for the misfiring Alexander Isak in an attempt to play the two British transfer record signings into form. And in an uninspiring first half, Wirtz and Isak had the best chances to put the Reds in front.
The first major chance of the game fell to Isak on the edge of the box, with the Swede able to take aim unopposed. However, he sent his whipped effort sailing over the running track and into the stand behind the goal.
A missed chance that Jamie Carragher put down to the striker being “rusty” and a “lack of pre-season” on the final day of November, in the 13th game of the season, three months on from signing for the club.
However, there was no dust on the £125million man at the start of the second half when he instinctively fired home at the near post from Cody Gakpo’s cutback to give the Reds the lead.
A finish more accustomed to the Isak we all saw last season brought a huge smile of relief to his face after two months without a goal. He was soon replaced by Hugo Ekitike, who started on the bench for the second league match in a row.
Meanwhile, Wirtz was also unable to take the chance that came his way in the first-half. Gakpo played a key role in the build-up again as he set the ball back to the German, who showed all the prowess in front of goal of a player without a goal or assist in England, his tame effort was read and comfortably saved by Alphonse Areola.
Despite his missed chance, Wirtz appeared a lot sharper in possession, playing on the half turn more effectively and remaining tidy, if not eye-catching in distributing the ball.
Like Isak, Wirtz was also withdrawn for Curtis Jones. It's a step in the right direction for the German, but he still needs to find plenty more on a regular basis to justify that hefty £116m price tag.
After shipping 10 goals in three games, it was also an uneventful game defensively, to the relief of the Reds’ scarred backline. [West Ham](https://www.dailystar.co.uk/latest/west-ham-fc) stepped on the Reds' backline for a prolonged period at the start of the second-half, but Isak’s timely goal dented their brightest spell of the game.
West Ham proved to be their own downfall in the game as Lucas Paqueta stupidly walked himself into a red card when she was shown two yellow cards within a minute, both for dissent, leaving the hosts a mountain to climb in their attempts to rescue the game.
Gakpo sealed the game in added time with a ruthless finish on the volley just as it looked to be getting cagey for the first time in the afternoon for the visitors.
Liverpool move up to 8th in the table, with Salah remaining as an unused substitute.