West Ham Utd 0 Liverpool 3

  • by Staff Writer
  • Saturday, 9th May 2009

The Hammers suffered their heaviest defeat of Gianfranco Zola's reign on a disappointing afternoon at the Boleyn.

Two goals for Steven Gerrard and one for Dirk Kuyt condemned United to their first three goal defeat since Alan Curbishley's side lost by the same margin at Manchester City last August.

The result - and overall performance - was especially disappointing given the day's earlier results which saw Fulham beat Aston Villa and Tottenham hold Everton to a draw at Goodision Park, meaning the Hammers slip two places to ninth with just two games of the season left to play.

Gianfranco Zola's assertation that four points would be enough to qualify for next season's Europa League always looked questionable even before today's results, which leave West Ham two points behind Fulham who have Newcastle (a) and Everton (h) left to play. Surely now anything less than two wins in the remaining fixtures at Everton and at home to Middlesbrough would be unlikely to procure that vital seventh spot.

Zola may well point to the fact that he is heavily hindered by injuries, and he would have a point. However the glaring lack of quality up front once again illustrates how much the failure to replace Craig Bellamy back in January has cost the Hammers.

Today United enjoyed just one goalscoring opportunity from open play - and that came from a Jamie Carragher mistake. Whilst there were several opportunites from dead ball situations the plain truth is that the lack of a clinical striker has cost the team vital points in recent weeks.

Today chief villain was David Di Michele, who squandered the best chance of the game late on in the first half by tripping over his own feet when attempting to round Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina, having pounced on the aforementioned Carragher error. That summed up West Ham's afternoon, as they were overrun by a side still in with a chance - however slim - of capturing their first championship since 1876 (or something like that).

West Ham's miserable afternoon began after just 76 seconds when Lucas Neill was guilty of losing the line, allowing Steven Gerrard to beat the offside trap before rounding Rob Green and firing into an empty net.

Gerrard doubled both his and his team's tally seven minutes ahead of the break after Luis Boa Morte was adjudged to have tugged Fernando Torres' shirt inside the box. Gerrard's penalty was well saved initially by Green but the midfielder was first to react to the rebound and slotted the ball home to make it 2-0.

The second goal arrived in controversial circumstances for just moments earlier Luis Boa Morte was left raging having been denied a clear free kick for a fairly obvious foul just outside the Liverpool box. Alan Wiley - who booked four United players in the space of just 22 first half minutes, and was jeered throughout by the home fans - waved play on; seconds later the hot-headed Boa Morte was giving away a penalty. It was that sort of day.

The final goal of the afternoon came with six minutes of normal time left to play. Dirk Kuyt was on hand to complete a swift counter attack by turning the ball home from close range, albeit at the second opportunity having seen Green pull off yet another superb save.

A miserable afternoon for the Hammers it may have been but Green will have done his England chances no harm at all in front of a watching Fabio Capello.

West Ham's chances were few and far between but to their credit they caused Liverpool untold problems from set pieces. Radoslav Kovac was a whisker away from levelling the scores on 26 minutes when he beat Reina to a Noble free kick but his header was a foot too high.

James Tomkins, Matthew Upson and Diego Tristan also registered headed efforts on goal - but they were to share Kovac's frustration.

The hunt for Europe: remaining fixtures

Fulham (36 games, 50 points, +6 GD): Newcastle (a), Everton (h).

Tottenham (36 games, 48 points, +1 GD): Man City (h), Liverpool (a).

West Ham Utd (36 games, 48 points, -2 GD): Everton (a), Middlesbrough (h).

Manchester City (35 games, 47 points, +10 GD): Man Utd (a), Tottenham (a), Bolton (h).

West Ham United 0 Liverpool 3: match facts

West Ham United: Green, Neill, Tomkins, Upson, Ilunga, Boa Morte (Payne 80), Kovac, Noble, Stanislas (Collison 59), Di Michele (Sears 70), Tristan.

Subs not used: Lastuvka, Spector, Lopez, Savio.

Efforts on goal: 7 (13, 26, 40, 41; 51, 53, 68).

Booked: Tomkins (21), Boa Morte (38), Kovac (43), Di Michele (43).

Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Skrtel, Aurelio (Insua 54), Lucas, Mascherano, Benayoun (Dossena 82), Kuyt, Gerrard, Torres (Babel 72).

Subs not used: Cavalieri, Hyypia, Degen, Ngog.

Goals: Gerrard (2, 38), Kuyt (84).

Efforts on goal: 13 (2*, 15, 23, 38*, 45, 45+3; 51, 54, 58, 61, 65, 84*, 90+3)

Booked: Aurelio (50), Mascherano (76).

Referee: Alan Wiley (4).

Attendance: to be confirmed.

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