Daily Star

19 POINTS CLEAR

Kop marching on

- ■ by DARREN LEWIS

MO SALAH’S man-of-the-match display sent Liverpool 19 points clear at the top of the Premier League and left West Ham fearing the drop.

The Egyptian striker rammed home a penalty 10 minutes before the break.

Then he provided a superb assist for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlai­n to score the second.

Salah could even have had a third but hit the post 12 minutes from time.

Angry West Ham fans – whose side face a must-win game against Brighton on Saturday – chanted “Sack the board” as their side fell to a fourth defeat in five games.

David Moyes’ side are only outside the bottom three on goal difference.

JURGEN KLOPP will be able to take the rest of the Premier League season off at this rate.

The Liverpool boss is firmly in the firing line for disrespect­ing the FA Cup by refusing to manage his team in next week’s fourth-round replay with Shrewsbury.

But the way things are going it won’t matter if he’s in the dugout or not for the rest of Liverpool’s league campaign either.

The Reds were far from their best at London Stadium, where their title charge faltered last season after a 1-1 draw.

But goals from Mo Salah and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlai­n were enough to give them a whopping 19-point lead at the top of the table.

And Liverpool have now beaten every team in the top flight, the first time in their history they have ever managed that in a single season.

Just give them the trophy now and put everyone else out of their misery.

West Ham had their moments. But they were bystanders for too long and are now in deep trouble with tough fixtures to come and relegation a looming threat.

The stakes were much higher for the Hammers. After posting losses of £27.26m they admitted staying in the Premier League is “an absolute necessity”.

But the turmoil at the club was underlined by repeated calls for unity from manager David Moyes, spooked by recent anti-board protests outside the ground.

Few gave them a chance against the Liverpool juggernaut. But they did at least welcome back key man Lukasz Fabianski in goal after a hip injury.

Without Sadio Mane because of a hamstring injury, Klopp started Divock Origi in his place and the Belgian got in behind 19-year-old Hammers debutant Jeremy Ngakia almost immediatel­y.

If this game had been played when it was supposed to, the Reds would have been facing Manuel Pellegrini’s attackmind­ed but flaky West Ham team.

Instead, its postponeme­nt meant they were facing a side built on the pragmatism of Moyes, but one which had neverthele­ss just been dumped out of the FA Cup here by West Brom. It was all Liverpool in terms of possession from the start – but the Hammers had their moments, with Ngakia twice causing problems with his delivery from wide areas.

And it wasn’t until the Hammers got themselves into a right mess at the back and Issa Diop conceded a penalty for a clumsy foul on Origi that the visitors took the lead.

Salah stepped up and thumped it home, after a lengthy VAR review to check whether Roberto Firmino handled in the build-up.

Manuel Lanzini wasted a glorious chance to equalise at the start of the second half, fluffing a wide-open shot after West Ham’s best move of the match.

But Fabianski then had to save well from Firmino as Liverpool responded with a lightning-quick break up field.

And it was all over in the 52nd minute when Salah raced clear after a Hammers corner to feed OxladeCham­berlain with a belter of a ball to make it 2-0.

Robert Snodgrass then finally forced Alisson into a decent save and Fabianski denied Origi at the other end, before Trent Alexander-Arnold hit a clearance off his own post.

Salah hit the post too, this time at the right end, and Alisson later denied Declan Rice.

But this game had been over for a long time by then. So has the title race.

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FOXY OX: Alex OxladeCham­berlain enjoys his goal with Firmino and (inset) Mo Salah celebrates too
■ FOXY OX: Alex OxladeCham­berlain enjoys his goal with Firmino and (inset) Mo Salah celebrates too
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CAPITAL GAINS: Mo Salah is mobbed after breaking the deadlock at the London Stadium
■ CAPITAL GAINS: Mo Salah is mobbed after breaking the deadlock at the London Stadium

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