Liverpool wrapped up 2024 in spectacular fashion with a dominant 5-0 victory over West Ham United on Sunday evening, in the 19th round of the English Premier League.
Liverpool’s commanding 5-0 victory saw goals from Luis Diaz (30′), Cody Gakpo (40′), Mohamed Salah (44′), Trent Alexander-Arnold (54′), and Diogo Jota (84′).
With this win, the Reds surged to the top of the table with 45 points, extending their lead to 8 points ahead of second-placed Nottingham Forest. Meanwhile, West Ham stayed in 13th place with 23 points.
West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola was kept busy throughout the match, making several crucial saves to deny Liverpool, including a standout stop in the 23rd minute when he blocked a powerful shot from Luis Diaz.
Liverpool finally broke Areola’s resistance in the 30th minute, when Luis Diaz opened the scoring. Diaz drove into the penalty area and attempted a pass, but the ball ricocheted off the defence and came back to him, allowing him to fire a low shot into the net.
Reds coach Arne Slot was forced to make an early substitution, with Jarrell Quansah replacing the injured Joe Gomez.
West Ham came close to equalizing in the 38th minute, as Mohammed Kudus exchanged passes with Lucas Paqueta before Kudus fired a low shot that hit the post.
Liverpool doubled their lead in the 40th minute. A ball into the penalty area found Mohamed Salah, who cleverly passed through the crowd to Cody Gakpo, who had an easy task of slotting it into the net.
Salah added a third goal just before halftime in the 44th minute. He collected a pass from Curtis Jones on the edge of the box and calmly fired a shot into the bottom corner of Areola’s goal.
Despite a slight improvement from West Ham in the second half, Liverpool kept their dominance, and in the 54th minute, Trent Alexander-Arnold made it 4-0 with a long-range shot. The ball rebounded off defender Kilman and caught goalkeeper Areola off guard.
In the 71st minute, Areola made a great save when he denied Diogo Jota’s shot after the ball fell to the substitute following an attempted clearance by Salah.
West Ham came close to pulling one back in the 75th minute when Mohammed Kudus’ header hit the frame of Liverpool’s goal. Moments later, Alexander-Arnold set up Salah for a shot from the heart of the penalty area, but the ball sailed over the bar.
Diogo Jota sealed the win for Liverpool in the 84th minute, receiving a pass from Salah and curling the ball past Areola, who could only watch in vain as the ball hit the back of the net. The match ended with a commanding 5-0 victory for Liverpool. The other Sunday games’ results come as follows:
- Nottingham Forest 2-0 Everton
- Bournemouth 2-2 Fulham
- Wolverhampton 2-2 Tottenham
- Southampton 1-2 Crystal Palace
