West Ham United 2-2 Liverpool
Premier League, London Stadium, Saturday 27 April 2024, 12.30pm BST
A first-half strike from Jarrod Bowen on his 200th West Ham United appearance and a Michail Antonio header earned a commendable 2-2 draw against Liverpool at London Stadium.
Bowen equalled Paolo Di Canio’s Premier League record for most Hammers goals in a single season when he headed in his 16th of the campaign – and 20th in all competitions – two minutes before the interval.
The title challenging visitors emerged from the break a different team, and though a messy Alphonse Areola own-goal gave them the lead after Andy Robertson levelled terms, Antonio found the target for the seventh time this term to secure a share of the spoils.
The result leaves David Moyes’ men with an outside chance of securing European qualification, in eighth place with three games to go, with a short trip to Chelsea in store next.
Boss Moyes made two changes to the XI that started the defeat at Crystal Palace last time out, with top scorer Bowen coming in for his landmark appearance in place of James Ward-Prowse, and Alphonse Areola returning for Łukasz Fabiański.
Liverpool dominated possession in the game’s early stages, but struggled to carve out any meaningful opportunities, and after Ryan Gravenberch miscued an angled effort at the back post, Mohammed Kudus caused problems at the other end and won a corner that ultimately came to nothing.
A portion of the away following thought Harvey Elliott had opened the scoring from close range in the eleventh minute, when his effort crashed into the side netting, but West Ham worked themselves into the contest and Bowen fired a low shot at Alisson close to the quarter-hour mark.
Areola did well to hold a powerful Gravenberch drive that just evaded the on-rushing Cody Gakpo, and then the Frenchman watched on comfortably as a 20-yard Trent Alexander-Arnold free-kick sailed over the crossbar.
The offside flag saved the Hammers from facing a penalty, with Luis Díaz narrowly mistiming his run before being fouled by Areola, but Liverpool continued to push and the home goalkeeper had to be alert to parry an Alexander-Arnold attempt.
Vladimír Coufal tried his luck as the clock ticked past 30 minutes, but Alisson was there to deny the Czech full-back a first goal in Claret and Blue, and though the Reds remained arguably on top Gakpo couldn’t find the target from the edge of the area.
Díaz twisted and turned his way into the box and hit the post with a low try five minutes ahead of the break, but chances continued to come for both sides, and Tomáš Souček just couldn’t connect to a Bowen free-kick before the latter’s deflected effort was pushed out for a corner.
Moyes’ men duly made the set-piece count, and after it was taken short Kudus found the head of Bowen, who steered the ball past the visiting stopper before celebrating wildly in the corner of the ground.
The Merseysiders burst out of the blocks at the start of the second half, and perhaps should have been level when Gravenberch fizzed a half-volley over the top, but they did find their equaliser moments later when Robertson squeezed a shot past Areola.
Gravenberch was again guilty of a poor miss in the 51st minute, when he failed to latch on to Gakpo’s cross with the goal gaping, and then the latter was stopped in his tracks by a vital, last-ditch Angelo Ogbonna challenge.
Jürgen Klopp’s charges maintained their momentum and Areola did well to palm away another Alexander-Arnold opportunity near to the hour, but the West Ham No23 couldn’t stop Gakpo’s shot after it hit Ogbonna and Souček, and the ball deflected in for 2-1.
Díaz went close to doubling his side’s advantage in the 69th minute, but couldn’t find space either side of Areola one-on-one, and then the home stopper denied Alexis Mac Allister from close range.
But West Ham rallied and quickly gained a foothold back in the contest, with Emerson sending a powerful attempt towards goal that need saving acrobatically by Brazil international Alisson shortly after 75 minutes.
There was to be no stopping Antonio notching for the third game in a row however, the 34-year-old rising highest to meet Bowen’s sumptuous ball from the right and make it 2-2 with little over ten minutes to go.
Away boss Klopp responded by making a triple change, that saw Darwin Núñez and Mohamed Salah introduced, and the pair combined instantly, the former not being able to properly connect with a wicked cross from the right.
Salah was then at the centre of a dangerous Liverpool counter-attack in the dying embers of the contest, the Egyptian forward powering forward before Elliott smashed the crossbar from range.
There was to be no further change to the scoreline despite five minutes being added on to the 90 though, and after a very late Ward-Prowse free-kick almost opened up a chance for Antonio, referee Anthony Taylor brought proceedings to a close.
West Ham United: Areola, Coufal, Zouma ©, Ogbonna, Emerson, Álvarez, Souček (Ward-Prowse 74), Paquetá, Kudus, Bowen, Antonio
Subs not used: Fabiański (GK), Cresswell, Johnson, Casey, Phillips, Cornet, Mubama, Ings
Goals: Bowen 43, Antonio 77
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold (Gomez 79), van Dijk ©, Quansah (Szoboszlai 90+1), Robertson, Endō (Núñez 79), Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Díaz (Salah 79), Gakpo, Elliott
Subs not used: Kelleher (GK), Tsimikas, Konaté, Jones, Bajcetic
Goals: Robertson 48, Areola og 65
Booked: Endō, Mac Allister
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Attendance: 62,474
