KLOPP REFRAGE
Liverpool furious as Moyes’ Hammers end their unbeaten run
JURGEN Klopp was incensed by referee Craig Pawson’s performance as Liverpool suffered their first defeat in 26 matches at West Ham yesterday. It was a monumental day for David Moyes after he masterminded the victory that saw his brilliant Hammers leapfrog their visitors into third place in the Premier League.
But Klopp was enraged by two decisions; the first when Pawson allowed West Ham’s opener to stand after keeper Alisson appeared to be impeded by Angelo Ogbonna as Pablo Fornals’ corner flew through his grasp.
The German also felt Aaron Cresswell should have been sent off for a ‘reckless’ challenge on Jordan Henderson.
‘I think it’s a clear foul on Allison, the arm from Ogbonna is here,’ he said. ‘The referee made it easy for himself and said: “Let’s see what the VAR is saying”. They said not clear and obvious — I don’t know why — which is really strange. It’s not man-marking, it’s blocking the goalkeeper.
‘The way I saw the Cresswell tackle on Henderson, it was a clear red card. You cannot go like this into a challenge.
‘But we cannot make these decisions, and I didn’t know what the ref would say now, but in the game he looked confident his decisions were correct. It’s all about the ref.’
When asked if refs were becoming too reliant on VAR, Klopp answered: ‘Not all refs, but he (Pawson) does.’
No matter what Klopp said, there was no doubt West Ham deserved this victory.
It was April 6 last time Liverpool lost a game. And that was to Real Madrid, away.
Yet to those familiar with the improvements made here under Moyes, this really wasn’t a shock at all. This was the Scot’s 1,001st game as a manager and not since his peak years at Everton has he had a team functioning as well as this. They can play, definitely; but they do the ugly stuff well, too.
That was why they won — and stopped Liverpool setting a club record for unbeaten games in all competitions established under Bob Paisley in 1982. Klopp’s team were halted at 25, as Paisley’s were by Bobby Robson’s Ipswich — another team punching above its weight.
If Liverpool had the best of the first half after losing an early goal, West Ham were good for their three points in the second, when they established a two-goal advantage before Liverpool pulled one back for a tense finish. Sadio Mane missed a late header to level, but Liverpool could have no complaints. Alisson was weak for all three West Ham goals and the first, despite Klopp’s protestations, was probably his own goal to boot.
Their second, after 67 minutes, saw Jarrod Bowen hold off three players before slipping the ball to Pablo Fornals. He was one-onone with Alisson, who might have done better with his shot which ricocheted beneath his body into the net.
Five minutes later they went further ahead. A Bowen corner was misjudged by Alisson and sailed over his head to the far post where Kurt Zouma scored.
Liverpool got one back after 83 minutes through sub Divock Origi, but West Ham held on. Brilliantly.
They had gone ahead after four minutes.
Ogbonna challenged Alisson for a corner, a duel that saw the ball diverted into the goal from Fornals’ inswinger. At first it looked as if Ogbonna had got a touch. Additional inspection suggested the dead ball had gone straight in. Repeated reviews suggested the Brazilian’s flapping palm had diverted the ball into his own net.
Stuart Attwell checked VAR and came to the same conclusion as most of us; Ogbonna jumped legitimately, Alisson made a mistake.
When Cresswell appeared to lose his footing and clattered into Henderson on the follow through of a tackle, there was another VAR check for a possible red card. Followed by another sensible call from Attwell.
Jota headed just over from a Henderson cross after 32 minutes and, from the next attack, Alexander-Arnold volleyed over — although Klopp wanted a penalty for Said Benrahma’s attempted block.
When Declan Rice was judged to have fouled Salah inside the D, Liverpool’s moment arrived. Alexander-Arnold struck a curling shot that eluded the wall and left Lukasz Fabianski rooted to the spot.
Liverpool usually push on from there. When they went flat in the second half, West Ham took advantage. And never looked back amid joyous scenes in the London Stadium.
Moyes, celebrating the Hammers’ first Premier League win over Liverpool since 2016, said: ‘I remember when I came here everyone said the London Stadium was not the same. Everyone in football knows if you can get a team winning and trying in every game you will get fans backing you wherever. The supporters really backed us today. I believe my best time is still to come and at the moment I’ve got really good players with incredible character.’
WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Fabianski 7; Johnson 7, Ogbonna 6 (Dawson 22), Zouma 8, Cresswell 7; Rice 8, Soucek 7; Bowen 8 (Coufal 84), Benrahma 7 (Masuaku 86), Fornals 9; Antonio 8. Subs not used: Lanzini, Areola, Noble, Diop, Fredericks, Kral. Booked: Soucek. LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Alisson 5; Alexander-Arnold 7, Matip 6, Van Dijk 6, Robertson 6; Fabinho 6 (Minamino 80), Henderson 6, Oxlade-Chamberlain 6 (Thiago 69); Salah 6, Jota 6 (Origi 75), Mane 6. Subs not used: Konate, Tsimikas, Phillips, Kelleher, Williams, Morton. Booked: Alexander-Arnold. Man of the match: Pablo Fornals. Referee: Craig Pawson. Attendance: 60,000.