Mo Salah stars as Liverpool thrash West Ham 5-1 to advance in Carabao Cup
Liverpool secured their place in the next round of the Carabao Cup with a resounding 5-1 victory over West Ham at Anfield, continuing their impressive run after a 3-0 Premier League win over Bournemouth last weekend.
Jurgen Klopp made nine changes to the side that started against Bournemouth, with Darwin Nunez and goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher the only holdovers. Federico Chiesa also made his debut start for Liverpool. Meanwhile, West Ham, captained by Jarrod Bowen, made eight changes following their 3-0 home loss to Chelsea.
West Ham started the brighter of the two sides and took the lead in the first half when Liverpool failed to clear a corner. A deflected clearance from Kostas Tsimikas ricocheted off Jarell Quansah into the net, giving the Hammers a surprise advantage.
Liverpool responded swiftly. Cody Gakpo sent in a cross from the left, which Federico Chiesa volleyed into the ground. Diogo Jota then outjumped both Lukasz Fabianski and Max Kilman to head the ball into the back of the net, levelling the score at 1-1.
The Reds came out stronger in the second half, quickly grabbing the lead. Curtis Jones carried the ball forward from his own half, played a clever one-two with a teammate, and slipped a perfectly timed pass to Jota, who finished calmly into the bottom corner for his second of the night.
Liverpool’s third came courtesy of Mohamed Salah. After finding Conor Bradley on the right, Bradley’s cutback reached Alexis Mac Allister, whose initial shot was saved by Fabianski, but Salah was on hand to bury the rebound.
West Ham’s night got worse when Alvarez was shown a red card for a late tackle on Salah as the Egyptian raced down the right wing. With the Hammers down to 10 men, Liverpool added two more goals. Nunez pounced on a rebound to score the fourth, and Gakpo completed the rout with a deflected strike from the edge of the box.
Liverpool’s dominant performance secured a 5-1 victory, sending them through to the next round of the Carabao Cup and adding to West Ham’s misery after their recent Premier League struggles.
