Liverpool's already distant dream of a top four finish was dealt a devastating hammer blow by Avram Grant's Hammers yesterday as a poor display from the Reds was duly punished by the embarrassingly superior West Ham United. Despite our recent resurgence and the fact that West Ham had the dubious accolade of the worst home record in the League prior to kick off, the injury hit Merseysiders failed to get out of first gear whilst the hosts put in possibly their best performance of the season to claim a well deserved 3-1 victory in front of the Upton Park faithful.
With Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez returning to the starting line-up many expected the Reds to comfortably ease past the relegation threatened home side, however, although Suarez showed signs of promise, especially when he expertly set up our only goal, the Uruguayan was anonymous for large periods of the first half and Gerrard unusually failed to assert his considerable presence on a game that appeared to pass the Reds' captain by.
Meanwhile, Dalglish reverted to a 5-3-2 formation, with Danny Wilson making his Premier League debut alongside Martin Skrtel and Jamie Carragher in what proved to be a distinctly ineffective defensive triumvirate. Although the defensive improvement sparked by Kenny Dalglish and Steve Clarke has added much needed stability at the back, the Reds struggled against the physically imposing front pair of Demba Ba and Frédéric Piquionne and unacceptably conceded the same amount of goals in this game alone as they had in the previous eight matches put together.
Despite this the visitors started the better of the two sides, with Meireles looping a header just over the bar from Lucas' long pass then firing straight at Robert Green in the West Ham goal during the opening stages. The dynamic Portuguese international was almost inevitably involved once again after 14 minutes when Johnson met his whipped corner with a powerful header that Piquionne managed to block.
In fact, the hosts' only sight of goal throughout the early exchanges arrived when Hammers debutant Thomas Hitzlsperger curled a terrific volley towards goal from 20 yards out which Reina caught with surprising ease. However, the momentum swung in West Ham's direction midway through the first period when a composed passing move ended with Parker playing a neat one-two with Hitzlsperger before tantalisingly dinking the ball beyond Reina and into the corner of the net.
Although as a Liverpool supporter it was obviously disappointing to concede the crucial first goal, as a fan of beautiful football the beauty, precision and expertise displayed by Parker to score such a stunning goal was simply breathtaking, and partly explains the Reds' reported interest in him during the summer transfer window.
Liverpool almost instantly levelled though as Kuyt's shot from range brushed the side netting after it had zoomed inches past the post, however the Hammers remained in the ascendancy and controlled proceedings, bullying and dominating the disappointingly reserved Reds.
Both sides then had legitimate penalty claims turned down by referee Mark Halsey as West Ham defender James Tomkins sent Suarez crashing to the turf moments before the home side countered and Demba Ba was unfairly challenged in the area by the struggling Danny Wilson. Although both incidents should have led to spot kicks, there was a perverse sense of justice because both the hosts and the visitors received equally incorrect decisions from the below par Halsey.
Unfortunately the first half went from bad to worse in the closing stages as the injury prone Martin Kelly suffered what appeared to be a serious hamstring injury before Demba Ba doubled our arrears. The loss of Kelly, who has become an irreplaceable component of our defence under Dalglish, could prove to be more damaging in the long term, however the Hammers' second goal was equally fatal in the short term, as Ba met O'Neil's intelligently crafted cross with a thumping header that left Reina with no chance and the Reds with a daunting mountain to climb.
When in-form but annoyingly injured midfielder Raul Meireles had to be replaced by the infuriatingly out of form David Ngog just after the interval the chances of an Istanbul-esque recovery appeared slim and, with West Ham performing to a level rarely seen by the relegation candidates, our Champions League aspirations were quickly dwindling away as well. This was reflected in the early stages of the second half as West Ham continued to threaten while the Reds, unlike their hosts, failed to exert a spell of sustained pressure on their opponents.
On 53 minutes Ba was inches away from adding further to the Hammers' lead as his shot flew inches wide from 25 yards out. After that the influential Hitzlsperger drilled over from the edge of the box before a moment of magic from Luis Suarez finally created a clear-cut chance for the visitors. On the hour mark Liverpool's new number seven turned away from Tomkins with consummate ease, encouragingly resembling former number seven and current temporary manager Kenny Dalglish. Suarez then dispatched an excellent strike that seemed destined to find the net, however Robert Green pulled off a wonder save to deny the Uruguayan forward.
Jacobsen then charged forward and struck over Reina's bar before Piquionne met Noble's corner and glanced a free header wide of the target when he really should have done better from close range. With just under 20 minutes remaining Reds' skipper Steven Gerrard sprung into life and went closest to reducing the deficit. A baffling and bizarre decision to award a throw in to West Ham when O'Neil had clearly smashed the ball against teammate Wayne Bridge proved to be of little consequence, as the subsequent throw fell to Ngog. Gerrard latched onto the Frenchman's pass and lashed a brilliant left footed effort towards goal, forcing Green to expertly tip over the bar.
Fortunately Liverpool did find a way back into the game with six minutes left when a terrific turn from Suarez instantly created space for him to flash the ball across the face of the goal and to the back post, where Johnson met the ball and bundled over the line to provide a glimpse of hope for the away side.
However, with the Reds' ever increasing desperation clearly demonstrated by Ngog's wasted effort that went high and wide from distance, Carlton Cole eventually delivered the hammer blow in injury time as he out-muscled Skrtel and beat Reina far too easily with a near post strike which the Spanish keeper should have comfortably stopped.
Following the abrupt and unwelcome halt to our eight match unbeaten run this disappointing defeat will inevitably be dissected strenuously in an attempt to explain this unexpected result. A lack of strength and battle at the back and a failure to sufficiently support Suarez up front are the main two reasons for yesterday's loss, and a shallow squad unable to cope with injuries must surely be the explanation underpinning poor results like this, however the occasional off day is acceptable. Under Dalglish our form has improved vastly and as a result the odd set back should not be a cause of worry, although annoyance at another poor performance on the road is understandable.
The Reds must now concentrate on next Sunday's massive match against Manchester United at Anfield. With the Mancs in the driving seat to claim a record nineteenth League title a Liverpool victory next weekend should inspire Dalglish's men for the rest of the run in while also pleasantly hindering United's title challenge.
I for one cannot wait!
YNWA
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