Sloppy loss shows up pressing concerns for Phoenix
Mixed fortunes for injury-free All Whites pair
Both Winston Reid and Chris Wood both made timely, incident-free returns to English Premier League action yesterday.
Less than a week out from the first leg of the All Whites’ World Cup qualifier against Peru in Wellington, Reid started at the back and played the full 90 minutes for West Ham in a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool, while Wood played 65 minutes in Burnley’s 1-0 win over Southampton.
Both missed the previous round for their clubs; Reid with a calf injury and Wood with a hamstring issue.
The Hammers struggled mightily against Liverpool’s dynamic attack, but Reid could hardly be blamed as for the lofty scoreline.
In the earlier kickoff, Wood started for Burnley but departed after 65 minutes, replaced by Sam Vokes who went on to score the winner for his side.
The only member of the EPL’s top six in Saturday action, Liverpool took full advantage as Juergen Klopp’s secured successive league victories for the first time since August.
Mohamed Salah scored twice, while Joel Matip and Alex OxladeChamberlain also found the net as Liverpool made light work of West Ham at the Olympic Stadium.
After an embarrassing 3-0 loss to Brighton in their last home league game, West Ham’s display did little to relieve the increasing pressure on manager Slaven Bilic.
‘‘I definitely don’t feel a broken man. I’m very, very strong,’’ Bilic said. ‘‘On the other hand, the situation for West Ham is not good.’’
Brighton and Huddersfield both won to move into the top half of the standings in their debut league seasons.
Brighton extended their unbeaten run to four games by defeating Swansea 1-0 with Glenn Murray scoring for a third consecutive league game.
Huddersfield held on for a 1-0 win over West Bromwich Albion despite playing the final third of the game with 10 men.
The other promoted team, Newcastle, conceded a last-minute goal to Bournemouth in a 1-0 loss. Steve Cook’s injury-time header left Rafael Benitez’s side with just one win in their last six.
Leicester stayed unbeaten under manager Claude Puel while twice wasting the lead in a 2-2 draw with Stoke.
❚ Stuff, AP