2023-12-20 22:51:00
There was no match this Wednesday evening at Anfield. Despite a reshuffled team at kick-off, Liverpool put on an offensive performance to dismiss West Ham (5-1) and qualify for the semi-finals of the EFL Cup. The Reds join Chelsea, Fulham and Middlesbrough and are now favorites for a tenth title in the event.
Determined to give the Hammers no respite, the locals, from the first moments, exerted all-terrain pressure which continued to disrupt the opposing restarts. Comfortably installed in the opposing half, the Reds then increased their attempts, notably through a leggy Harvey Elliott, until they found the opening shortly before the half-hour mark. Taking advantage of a high recovery from Jarell Quansah, Dominik Szoboszlai unleashed a floating shot, deceiving Alphonse Aréola to open the scoring (1-0, 28th).
Doors open after the break
If Konstantinos Mavropanos and Benjamin Johnson initially survived, Liverpool continued to press. Having come close to making the break before the break on a header from Cody Gakpo, the Reds took cover shortly after returning from the locker room. At the origin of a well-felt one-two with Darwin Nunez, Curtis Jones slipped the ball between the legs of the French goalkeeper to put his team away from any opposing return (2-0, 56th).
From there, despite a first strike from the visitors by an inconspicuous Kudus, Liverpool played their football. Ten minutes after the entries of Konaté, Salah and Alexander Arnold (!), the winners of the 2022 edition scored a third goal through Gakpo, putting an end to the little suspense that remained (3-0, 71st). And as if they were upset at having lost their “clean sheet” on a superb curling strike from Jarrod Bowen (3-1, 77th), Mohamed Salah and Curtis Jones added two new achievements, probably amplifying the already headache consequence of a disillusioned David Moyes on his bench (5-1, 84th).
Taking advantage of the contribution of their bench, Klopp’s men never trembled, ending a series of two unsuccessful matches in all competitions. Enough to regain confidence before hosting Arsenal in the clash at the top of the Premier League on Saturday (6:30 p.m.), and to give yourself time to think about the final four of this League Cup at the beginning of January, where Fulham will want to block them.
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