Liverpool exploited West Ham United’s weakness at set pieces to secure a 5-2 win in their Premier League clash at Anfield on Saturday but the hosts did not have it all their own way as they struggled to shake off the relegation-threatened Londoners.
The win takes the Merseysiders up to fifth, level on 48 points with fourth-placed Manchester United, who play on Sunday. West Ham stay 18th on 25 points, two points off the safety zone.
Striker Hugo Ekitike gave Liverpool the lead in the fifth minute while captain Virgil van Dijk and midfielder Alexis Mac Allister also netted first-half goals, with all three strikes coming as a result of West Ham’s struggles to defend corners.
Tomas Soucek scored early in the second half to throw the visitors a lifeline and when Cody Gakpo extended the Liverpool lead to 4-1 in the 70th minute Valentin Castellanos pegged the home side back again five minutes later to keep the game alive.
Liverpool substitute Jeremie Frimpong finally killed the game off as a contest by forcing West Ham defender Axel Disasi to concede an own goal in the 82nd minute.