by Staff Writer
Sunday, 30th November 2025
A toothless West Ham, with zero shots on target and reduced to ten men due to Lucas Paqueta's second half histrionics, fell to an all too predictable defeat at home to Liverpool - on the day we said goodbye to club legend Billy Bonds.
The Brazilian midfielder, who isn't fit to lace the boots of Bonds or any of the greats who have spilt blood, sweat and tears for the club over the years effectively ended any chance West Ham - 1-0 behind at the time - had of making a late comeback when he saw red for arguing with referee Darren England.
Few onlookers would've criticised Paqueta for protesting at being shown an extremely soft 83rd-minute yellow card after he complaining at a free kick given against the Hammers.
However the Brazilian international left referee England no choice but to produce a second card a minute later for refusing to let it go, while current skipper Jarrod Bowen stood by helplessly and allowed Paqueta to talk himself into an early bath.
Those who were lucky enough to have seen him in action might have wondered how Bonds would've reacted to his team mate's immature outburst had he been on the pitch. But this is a West Ham team with barely no resemblance to those teams of the '70s and '80s, to whom the only similarity to the current team is the colours the players wear.
Liverpool came into the game with nine defeats from their last 12 outings and they couldn't have asked for an easier opponent. The Reds managed to create just nine attempts on target themselves, with the crucial breakthrough arriving on the hour mark.
And of course it had to be Alexander Isak, the £120m summer signing with just one goal to his name prior to today who had to make the breakthrough - the Swedish international squeezing his shot betwixt 'keeper and post on the hour mark to open the scoring.
Although West Ham huffed and puffed the chronic lack of quality was always evident and it was no surprise that the second and final goal went to the visitors, who took advantage of some lapse defending to double their lead in added-on time through Cody Gapko.
The defeat leaves West Ham one place above the relegation zone - with a trip to a resurgent Manchester United next on the cards.
We'll have a full match report for you soon.
* Something to say about this story? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.