Mo Salah got a goal and two assists as Liverpool drew the curtains on year 2024 with a 5-0 demolition of West Ham United in a Premier League match at the London Stadium on Sunday.
Yet it was West Ham that came close to breaking the deadlock six minutes into the encounter as a sliding Lucas Paqueta was unable to guide a Jarrod Bowen ball into Alisson’s goal.
It was West Ham’s turn to heave a sigh of relief just a minute later when Cody Gakpo’s defence-splitting pass sent Salah through on goal, only for the Egyptian forward to be denied by Alphonse Areola.
Luiz Diaz came close to scoring twice in a minute midway through the first half, before the Colombian finally put Liverpool ahead after 30 minutes with a smart finish laced with a bit of fortune in the build-up.
A ball from Trent Alexander-Arnold had Diaz bearing down on goal, with his attempted pass to Curtis Jones deflecting off Kostas Mavropanos back to the Colombian, who shot the ball into the bottom corner.
West Ham came close to an equaliser in the 38th minute through Ghana’s Mohamed Kudus whose low shot from 25 yards out beat Alisson in the Liverpool goal, but not the post. It was one of three times in the game the Hammers would be denied by the Liverpool post.
And that miss would prove costly just two minutes later, with Salah waltzing through West Ham defenders with audacious show of skills before passing the ball to Gakpo to score Liverpool’s second of the game.
Salah would get himself on the scoresheet a minute to the half-time break for his 17th goal of the league season as the Reds kicked into full flow at the Hammers’ expense.
The Liverpool onslaught continued in the second half, with Alexander-Arnold’s swerving effort from long range beating Areola 10 minutes into the second half, before substitute, Diogo Jota, made it 5-0 in the closing stages.
Liverpool go eight points clear at the top of the Premier League as a result, with a game in hand over second-placed Nottingham Forest.