Diogo Jota pulls Liverpool through to victory against West Ham

Another Liverpool game, another Diogo Jota goal. The Portuguese International’s late winner helped the Reds beat a resilient West Ham United 2-1.

The opening minutes of the game were dominated by the Hammers, as they constantly put the ball into the box searching for Sebastian Haller’s head.

The approach paid off within the first ten minutes of the game when wing-back Arthur Masuaku’s cross wasn’t dealt with by the Reds back-line. Joe Gomez’s poor clearance fell right into the path of Pablo Fornals, who made no mistake with a neat near-post finish.

Jurgen Klopp’s men eventually got to grips with the game and started to take control of the ball. However, they lacked any real attacking threat, as West Ham’s defensive shape was compact enough to hold them off.

The breakthrough eventually came through Mohamed Salah’s low and hard penalty, which was a few minutes before the first half ended. Salah himself won the penalty when Masuaku’s clumsy tackle gave him sufficient reason to go down in the box.

Just like the first half, West Ham came out of the blocks way quicker in the second half too. Fornals had the golden opportunity to score again, however, his outstretched boot didn’t make solid contact with the ball, and Alisson safely collected his tame attempt.

The game changed in the 70th minute. Jurgen Klopp introduced Diogo Jota and Xherdan Shaqiri in search of a goal, and they delivered just that.

It took some patience though, as Jota had a goal disallowed before he actually scored the winner. Jota scored a rebound from close-range, but on-field referee, Kevin Friend, after a closer look at the pitch-side monitor saw that Sadio Mane had committed a foul on goalkeeper, Lukasz Fabianski.

Jota was understandably distraught, however, he got on with the game and eventually won the game for the Reds in the 85th minute. Shaqiri played him through on goal via a beautifully crafted pass with just the right amount of weight behind it. Jota then made no mistake and scored past Fabianski.

The last 20 minutes of the game were all Liverpool, and that will definitely give Jurgen Klopp reason to think about changes to the starting lineup when Liverpool face a tricky trip to Atalanta in matchday three of the Champions League.

The win took Liverpool top of the table ahead of Merseyside rivals Everton. West Ham United remain 13th in the table.

Follow us on Twitter @ProstInt