Virgil Van Dijk is the hero for Liverpool after scoring a stoppage time winner for the Reds to seal a 2-1 win over West Ham United in a dramatic end to the Premier League clash at Anfield on Sunday.
Fresh of signing contract extensions with Liverpool during the week, Van Dijk and Mo Salah proved their worth to help send Arne Slot’s side 13 points clear of Arsenal at the top of the league with six games left in the season.
Salah provided the opener for Liverpool in the 18th minute, with the Egyptian running on to Ibrahima Konate’s long ball and sending a trivela pass into the West Ham area for Luiz Diaz to tap in for his 11th league goal this season.
Both teams created chances to get a goal but were met with top goalkeeping from the respective keepers, while Liverpool saw a penalty shout less than 10 minutes before half-time waved off as the Reds went into the break with the slender lead.
Liverpool’s ascendency in the game carried on in the early stages of the second half, with Alexis Mac Allister denied by Alphonse Areola, while another penalty shout for a James Ward-Prowse handball was turned down after VAR review.
The Hammers started to gain confidence and creep their way back into the game, finally finding a way past Alisson in the 86th minute when Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s crisp cross into the area caused confusion among the Liverpool defenders and was turned into his goal by substitute, Andy Robertson.
Van Dijk, who could have dealt with the Wan-Bissaka ball that led to the West Ham goal, made amends three minutes later as he rose highest to head home a Mac Allister cross to put Liverpool back in front.
West Ham came close to a dramatic equaliser in stoppage time, though, with Niklas Fullkrug sending a header crashing off the crossbar with Alisson well beaten as a relieved Anfield erupted in joy at the final whistle moments later.
Elsewhere in the Premier League on Sunday, Chelsea came from two goals down to claim a point in the 2-2 draw at home to Ipswich Town thanks to a Jadon Sancho stunner, while Wolverhampton Wanderers scored the fastest goal in the league this season on the way to a 4-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur.