Hammers Fail To Profit As Slot’s Machine Is Back Up And Running

West Ham United were unfortunately unable to add their name to the list of teams to have beaten Liverpool this season, as they lost 2-0 to Arne Slot’s side on Sunday afternoon.

Nuno Espírito Santo made three changes to the side that saw their two-goal advantage disappear at AFC Bournemouth eight days earlier. Lucas Paquetá was restored to the starting line-up following his one-match suspension which kept him out of the clash in Dorset, while Soungoutou Magassa started his first home game since arriving in East London on 29 August.

The Head-Coach stated in his pre-match news conference ahead of this game on Friday that Konstantinos Mavropanos was nearing a return to fitness and may be included in the side. Well, the defender had passed a fitness test and featured for the first time since the 2-0 home defeat to Brentford back on October 20. Max Kilman dropped to the bench for the first time since making the move to Stratford from Wolverhampton Wanderers in the summer of 2024, while youngster Luis Guilherme, as well as Brighton and Hove Albion loanee Igor Julio also took their places amongst the substitutes.

Just over an hour before the game, news had broken that “club legend” Billy Bonds had passed away so the majority inside the stadium wanted to see their team put on a performance for a man that made 799 appearances for the club and continue their unbeaten run. Full tributes are being planned for the visit of Aston Villa on 14 December.

West Ham had beaten both Newcastle United and Burnley in their last two home games, whereas the Reds were looking for their first win on the road since a 1-0 win over Scott Parker’s side right the way back on 14 September.

It was a cagey first half with both teams sizing each other up. Aaron Wan-Bissaka tried to create an opportunity when he sent a set-piece into an inviting area and although it was cleared, the ball eventually dropped for Mateus Fernandes but unfortunately for the majority inside the stadium, his effort was blocked on the way through to goal.

Slot’s men were unable to make an early breakthrough either, as Alexander Isak didn’t even test home goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.

The Swede went back for more and it was fair to say that on this occasion, the Frenchman was equal to his effort, making a brilliant save to keep the scores level.

The visitors were still applying pressure but fortunately, the Hammers stood firm as both Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai tried their luck.

Virgil van Dijk was the next opposing player to thwart the Irons, as home skipper Jarrod Bowen went close to opening the scoring but, the Dutchman saved his team.

The away fans were more likely to see a goal before half-time but thankfully, Areola denied both Florian Wirtz and Joe Gomez. Had the effort from Wirtz beaten him it would have given Slot’s side the lead. Fortunately though, they couldn’t benefit and after one minute of stoppage time had been added, referee Darren England brought the first-half to a close with the deadlock still to be broken.

There was little change in the tempo of the game when the action restarted, but after Cody Gakpo had gone for goal but fortunately missed the target, the chances started to flow again. Bowen was thwarted once more, as Milos Kerkez was in the way. Paquetá then tried to put his name on the scoresheet but he became the latest player to send an effort wide.

The home side were then awarded a succession of corners but unfortunately weren’t able to test visiting goalkeeper Alisson Becker with any of them.

With exactly an hour gone, the visitors stepped up their intensity and that was the move to break the resilience of the East Londoners. Wirtz and Gakpo combined well to set up Isak to score his first goal for his new club.

Both managers made substitutions on sixty eight minutes. Magassa made way for Guilherme, while Slot changed his strikers and favoured Hugo Ekitiké over Isak.

It didn’t take long for Ekitiké to make an impact, as he combined with another of the Dutchman’s changes in Curtis Jones, who entered the fray eight minutes after Ekitiké but fortunately for the home faithful, Jones sent his curling effort wide.

On seventy seven minutes, Espírito Santo made his second change of the afternoon, as Niclas Füllkrug took the place of Callum Wilson.

Paquetá had missed the last game against AFC Bournemouth due to suspension after accumulating five yellow cards and after a foul on Füllkrug, he complained to referee England and the Brazilian midfielder was booked.

After a few more minutes had passed, Paquetá still had the earlier incident on his mind and due to his continual protesting, he was given a second booking in a matter of minutes, meaning he will miss Thursday’s game against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

The home side made a final change, as they gave Tomáš Souček a few minutes on the pitch to see if he could get an equaliser for his side with Liverpool only a goal in front.

The fourth official signalled that there would be five minutes of stoppage time added to the end of the ninety but unfortunately, Souček didn’t have the chance to rescue anything for his side on this occasion, as just two minutes into the extra period, Gakpo had wrapped up the points as he beat Areola.

After being on the road in their last game, the Hammers are now back on their travels for the next two encounters with a trip to Manchester United to come on Thursday night.