Livermore fury
West Brom midfielder confronts West Ham supporters
West Ham United are investigating why West Bromwich Albion midfielder Jake Livermore confronted a section of home fans in an incident that overshadowed their thrilling comeback victory last night.
The London club face questions over why the former Tottenham Hotspur player entered the London Stadium stands to square up to home supporters after being substituted in the second half. Livermore had eventually to be escorted down the tunnel by a member of the West Brom backroom staff, while his assistant head coach John Carver remonstrated with stewards.
England international Livermore had not been due to start the game, having faced Arsenal just 51 hours earlier, but he had to be drafted in after Matt Phillips suffered an injury at the end of the warm-up.
Livermore appeared to react to something that was shouted at him after Hal Robson-kanu replaced him in the 65th minute. By that stage West Brom had conceded Andy Carroll’s equaliser and would go on to lose to the forward’s stoppage-time winner. They were Carroll’s first goals in nine months.
West Brom manager Alan Pardew said of the Livermore incident: “The only thing I know is I saw Jake in the crowd, which disturbed me. There’s no way he’s going in the crowd unless he was provoked severely. I haven’t had a chance to speak to Jake. I’ll speak to Jake and we’ll go from there.”
West Ham manager David Moyes added: “I would never hide, but I genuinely didn’t see anything.”
James Mcclean had put West Brom on course for a first win since the Aug 19 success against Burnley only for Carroll to score with a header in the 59th minute then grab a winner that lifted West Ham United out of the Premier League relegation places.
There had been little sign of a fightback after Mcclean’s deflected opener in the 30th minute before Carroll rose above Jonny Evans and Kieran Gibbs to head Aaron Cresswell’s cross past Ben Foster.
And Carroll was perfectly positioned at the back post to coolly steer in Mark Arnautovic’s low cross in the fourth and final minute of stoppage time. The victory provides West Ham with a valuable lift ahead of tomorrow’s derby with Tottenham Hotspur.
“Two great goals,” said Moyes. “A great centre-forward’s header, as good as it gets. I don’t think you can stop his leap and jump. The other shows great quality, tight angle, to complete the finish. It’s great. I’ve got to say for long periods it didn’t look likely. We lost a goal in the last minute at Bournemouth, which shouldn’t have counted. Newcastle scored an offside goal here, but tonight things went for us. They were two stunning goals, brilliant finishes. You earn your luck a bit. We were poor in the first half, changed things at half-time and got 15 yards further up the pitch.”
West Brom had asked for this game to be postponed in a complaint to the Premier League over having to play twice in just over 48 hours, despite their opponents having a comparative rest since Boxing Day.
And Pardew felt his team, who have now gone 20 Premier League games without a victory, paid the price for the quick turnaround.
“It’s very evident on the pitch because we lose Matt Phillips in the warm-up, at the end of the warmup, my most influential player offensively,” said Pardew. “We still put in a great first half. It’s very difficult to criticise my team. It’s heartbreaking for the players.”
Substitute Oliver Burke missed two good late chances for West Brom and it was from his cross that West Ham broke up the pitch and Carroll scored the winner.
Diafra Sakho, who is a transfer target for Swansea City, was not in the West Ham squad. Moyes said: “He’s got a cyst on his knee.”
West Ham
(3-4-2-1): Adrian 6; Reid 5, Ogbonna 6, Cresswell 7 (Rice 76, 6); Zabaleta 5, Kouyate 5, Obiang 5 (Noble 45,6), Masuaku 6 (Hernandez 73, 6); Lanzini 7, Arnautovic 7; Carroll 8. Subs: Hart, Ayew, Haksabanovic, Quina. Booked: Lanzini, Masuaku, Carroll.
West Brom (4-2-3-1): Foster 8; Dawson 7, Hegazi 6, Evans 5, Gibbs 5; Krychowiak 6, Yacob 5 (Barry 83, 6); Rodriguez 6 (Burke 71, 6), Livermore 5 (Robson-kanu 64, 6), Mcclean 7; Rondon 6. Subs: Myhill, Brunt, Mcauley, Field. Booked: Yacob.
Referee: Mike Jones (Cheshire).