Carroll hurts Reds with head
ANDY Carroll scored with a trademark towering header to sink his former employers as West Ham got 2016 off to a flying start with a 2-0 Premier League win over a typically inconsistent Liverpool yesterday.
Carroll rose to meet a precise cross from Mark Noble 10 minutes into the second half, doubling the hosts’ advantage after Michail Antonio had headed them into an early lead.
Having won their last two games by narrow margins, Juergen Klopp’s side looked more like the team that took a solitary point from their previous three, with little threat in attack and familiar vulnerabilities in defence.
Carroll, who remains Liverpool’s record signing when he joined the Anfield club for £35m (R770m) in 2011, almost made it 3-0 when he had another header saved by Liverpool ’keeper Simon Mignolet.
The visitors were restricted to shots from distance and two half-hearted penalty appeals for handball as they tried in vain to reduce the deficit.
Substitute Joe Allen sent a header narrowly wide at the death, a rare clear-cut chance on an otherwise disappointing day for Klopp.
“I’m angry today because we could have got so much more,” the German said. “We deserved to lose. We had the ball, we could have made more chances, but we didn’t. We have to accept that we didn’t play like we should have.”
Liverpool were unhappy with West Ham’s opener as Alberto Moreno appeared to be fouled running down the left flank before the hosts countered with Antonio running the length of the pitch before launching himself at a deep cross to head past Mignolet.
There was an inevitability about the second from the moment Noble shaped to cross the ball with Carroll hovering at the far post.
The England striker rose above everybody else to direct his header back across goal and into the far corner of the net to ensure West Ham did the double over Liverpool, having won 3-0 at Anfield in August.
“Each game you want to win and score goals, it doesn’t matter if it is against a side you have played for,” Carroll said.
“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, we just want to keep winning games.”
In the later games, Arsenal’s Premier League title charge gathered momentum as they moved two points clear at the top with a scrappy 1-0 victory over Newcastle United as Leicester City’s push faltered with a goalless home draw against Bournemouth.
Predictions that Leicester’s unlikely surge to the summit would be shortlived gained further substance when they failed to break down 10-man Bournemouth and missed a penalty through Riyad Mahrez to extend their winless run to three games.
The Foxes manager put a positive spin on the result.
“A draw is not okay, it is only one point, but it is okay as we have 40 points, which was the goal. It’s champagne for my players,” said Claudio Ranieri.
That result gave Arsenal the chance to open a gap at the top, and they did not miss it, though they endured a tighter than expected afternoon at home to Newcastle, where defender Laurent Koscielny poached the winner after 72 minutes.
Louis van Gaal was finally given reason to smile as Manchester United ended a dismal, six-game winless league streak at home to Swansea, Wayne Rooney securing a vital 2-1 victory with his first Premier League goal since October.
“Today the victory was very important,” said United midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger.
“It was not so easy after the equaliser, but we kept going. It was not so good after we lost three matches against Bournemouth, Norwich and Stoke, but we responded well.
“The team has character, and you can see that. We controlled the game and scored goals. It was important to get two today. The influence of Anthony Martial and Rooney is important for us. They can score goals. It was an unbelievable goal from Wayne,” added the Germany star.
Jermain Defoe scored twice for Sunderland, whose hopes of avoiding relegation were boosted with a 3-1 win over bottom club Aston Villa, whose own plight looks bleak.
Alex Tettey scored the only goal of the game for Norwich City against Southampton, who had Victor Wanyama sent off in the second half, and Jonny Evans snatched a stoppage-time winner for West Bromwich Albion as they beat Stoke City 2-1.
Watford hosted Manchester City in the late game.