Virgil van Dijk scored Liverpool’s late winner to beat West Ham 2-1 (Paul ELLIS)
Virgil van Dijk spared Liverpool’s blushes with a late winner to beat West Ham 2-1 on Sunday and edge to inside six factors of the Premier League title.
Andy Robertson’s personal aim 4 minutes from time had given the lowly Hammers a deserved equaliser after Luis Diaz put Liverpool in entrance early on.
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Van Dijk, although, swiftly restored the result in present Liverpool retain the mentality of champions, even when they’re working out of steam within the closing levels of the season.
“That was a reduction as a result of to me it felt after West Ham scored and the best way the second half went, it was possibly extra that you may count on them scoring,” mentioned Liverpool boss Arne Slot.
“However our followers and our gamers thought in another way as a result of from the second they scored the 1-1, we began enjoying once more, we began urgent once more. The followers have been actually loud at that second of time.”
Liverpool’s lead stretches to 13 factors with six video games remaining.
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A record-equalling twentieth English top-flight title may come as early as subsequent Sunday if Liverpool win at Leicester and Arsenal lose away to Ipswich.
The stage was set earlier than kick-off for Mohamed Salah to be the hero because the Egyptian was given an enormous ovation simply days after ending hypothesis over his future by signing a brand new two-year contract.
Salah began with the intention of creating positive he was the main focus of consideration as younger left-back Ollie Scarles struggled to deal with the Premier League’s high scorer.
The 32-year-old has failed to attain in seven of his final eight Liverpool video games as his sensational early season kind has failed off.
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However he nonetheless managed to set a brand new Premier League file by registering his forty fifth aim or help of the marketing campaign, probably the most ever in a 38-game season.
Salah outmuscled Scarles on the touchline and sprinted clear earlier than an inch-perfect cross for Diaz allowed the Colombian to faucet in for his fifteenth aim of the season on 18 minutes.
Defeat sees West Ham slip to seventeenth within the desk, however they’d a sequence of possibilities to take no less than some extent.
The fatigue that has seen Liverpool wrestle in current occasions was in proof once more as they’d goalkeeper Alisson Becker to thank for transferring one other three factors nearer to the title.
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Alisson brilliantly tipped Mohammed Kudus’ tried chip onto the bar with the guests first severe assault.
Jarrod Bowen had West Ham’s greatest probability to degree when he didn’t beat Alisson when one-on-one with the Brazilian earlier than he turned away one other highly effective drive by Kudus.
When West Ham did lastly discover the online, it was thanks to 2 of Liverpool’s most skilled defenders.
Robertson and Van Dijk each went for a similar ball and the Scotland captain diverted Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s cross into his personal web.
The aim all of the sudden sparked Liverpool into life after a listless second half as Diaz’s deflected effort went over the bar.
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Van Dijk took simply three minutes to make amends for the equaliser as he powered in Alexis Mac Allister’s nook.
The Dutchman kissed the badge in celebration in a possible nod to him reportedly being near following Salah in signing a brand new contract.
There was nonetheless extra drama to come back as Niclas Fullkrug hit the bar for West Ham in stoppage time.
However Liverpool held out to take one other step in direction of the title in Slot’s first season in cost.
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