Carabao CupLiverpool 5-1 West Ham United
Wednesday, 20th December 2023
by James Haley
The tie started as any other West Ham game against top-six opposition, as the Reds dominated possession and the Hammers looking to spring a counterattack.
Despite this, West Ham limited Liverpool to shots outside the box which never really troubled returning keeper Alphonse Areola.But Liverpool would break the deadlock as Said Benrahma gave the ball away to Jarell Quansah who passed to Dominik Szoboszlai who rifled a shot into the bottom left corner.
The Reds would continue to have the majority of chances with the best one coming on the stroke of half-time as Cody Gakpo headed just wide of the post.
West Ham would finally have a sight of goal as Jarrod Bowen attempted to find Pablo Fornals as the back post but an excellent piece of defending from Kostas Tsikmas prevented an equaliser.
Liverpool doubled their lead when Darwin Nunez played Curtis Jones through and the midfielder had a shot from an impossible angle which went through Areola?EUR(TM)s legs.
The third goal would come soon after this as Ibrahima Konate ran through the Hammers midfield and laid it off to Gakpo who smashed it into the bottom left corner.
West Ham had a glimmer of hope with 10 minutes to go as Ben Johnson looped a ball in behind the Liverpool defence for Bowen who cut it back onto his right foot and found the top right corner.
The Reds would attempt to put the game to bed as Nunez had a shot which hit the post and rebound fell to substitute Mohamed Salah who uncharacteristically missed from a few yards out.
Liverpool would go on to add a fourth as Trent Alexander-Arnold played a pass from his own half to Salah who found himself through on goal and this time he made no mistake as he slotted it past Areola.
The Reds would score a humiliating fifth goal as Jones glided through the West Ham midfield and defence and shot past Areola.
A 5-star Liverpool display against a very poor West Ham performance means that The Reds are through to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, where they will face Fulham.
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Click to view all West Ham United vs Liverpool match reports Click to view all match reports by James Haley Like to share your thoughts on this article? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.Player Ratings
Alphonse AreolaConceding five goals in a game is always going to give you a poor rating. Mistake for Curtis Jones's first goal and never got near any of the others.
Ben Johnson
Not as poor as I was expecting to be as he was solid in defence and got the assist for the only West Ham goal.
Vladimir Coufal
Never noticed him in the game and wasn?EUR(TM)t really at fault for any of the goals.
Konstantinos Mavropanos
Wasn?EUR(TM)t the commanding presence that we needed in defence and poor passing once again.
Angelo Ogbonna
Liverpool knew he was the weak link in the defence and they targeted him. It is clear that Ogbonna is no longer cut out for this level of football.
Edson Alvarez
There was no midfield for Liverpool to deal with which led to few of the goals.
Tomas Soucek
Anonymous in the game once again and there was a couple of times where Liverpool would just run through the midfield with little resistance.
Pablo Fornals
Needed to be that creative outlet to link the attack and defence but wasn?EUR(TM)t that and failed to make a few key passes.
Mohammed Kudus
Not Kudus?EUR(TM) best game for West Ham but it was due to the lack of service rather than any technical ability.
Said Benrahma
Terrible performance from Benrahma who didn?EUR(TM)t provide any impact on the goal whatsoever and also was a fault for the first goal.
Jarrod Bowen
Took his goal very well but didn?EUR(TM)t have any service to try and score more due to our low block system.
Substitutes
Lucas Paqueta(Replaced Benrahma, 57) Didn?EUR(TM)t do anything in the game as the tie was already done.
James Ward-Prowse
(Replaced Kudus, 71) Another player that didn?EUR(TM)t do anything in the limited time he was on.
Thilo Kehrer
(Replaced Coufal, 71) Should have started the full game because Ogbonna is done at this level.
Danny Ings
(Replaced Alvarez, 81) What is the point of bringing him on? He hasn?EUR(TM)t scored in 22 games.
Lukasz Fabianski
Did not play.
Aaron Cresswell
Did not play.
Emerson Palmieri
Did not play.
Kurt Zouma
Did not play.
Divin Mubama
Did not play.
Match Facts
West Ham United: Alphonse Areola, Ben Johnson, Vladimir Coufal, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Angelo Ogbonna, Edson Alvarez, Tomas Soucek, Pablo Fornals, Mohammed Kudus, Said Benrahma, Jarrod Bowen.Goals: Jarrod Bowen 77 .
Booked: Edson Alvarez 0 .
Sent off: None.
Liverpool: Kelleher, Gomez, Van Dijk (Konate 61), Quansah, Tsimikas (Bradley 69), Endo (Alexander-Arnold 60), Jones, Szoboszlai (Salah 60), Elliot, Gakpo, Nunez.
Subs not used: Adrian, Clark, Gordan, McConnell, Diaz.
Goals: Szoboszlai (28), Jones (56, 85), Gakpo (71), Salah (82).
Booked: Nunez.
Sent off: None.
Referee: Tim Robinson.
Attendance: 0.
Man of the Match: Jarrod Bowen.