West Ham 1-1 Liverpool: Hammers blunt Reds attack as title bid cracks start to show

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Vaishali Bhardwaj4 February 2019

Liverpool's lead at the top of the Premier League table now stands at just three points after Jurgen Klopp's side could only muster a 1-1 draw against West Ham at the London Stadium.

The visitors took the lead in controversial circumstances when an offside James Milner teed up Sadio Mane, who opened the scoring in the 22nd minute.

West Ham took just six minutes to respond, however, when Felipe Anderson's free-kick found Michail Antonio, whose subsequent shot flew across the face of the goal and into the far corner of the net.

The draw means Liverpool's five-point lead at the top of the standings stands at just three, with champions City now able to overtake the Reds should they beat Everton at Goodison Park in midweek.

The Hammers, meanwhile, remain in 12th place but crucially ended a run of three straight defeats in all competitions with their hard-earned point against Liverpool.

Much attention, ahead of the match, focused on whether Liverpool would successfully handle the increased pressure of knowing champions Manchester City sat just two points behind the Reds following their 3-1 win over Arsenal on Sunday.

Even Tottenham had added to the pressure on Jurgen Klopp's side after they moved to within four points of the leaders with a narrow 1-0 victory at home to Newcastle on Saturday.

And indeed, in the early stages of the match against West Ham, it certainly seemed as though Liverpool were playing under intense pressure.

The visitors twice allowed the hosts to come close to scoring, first, through Javier Hernandez who rounded Virgil Van Dijk before seeing his effort fly wide as Aaron Cresswell followed suit with a low drive that whistled past the far post.

West Ham United via Getty Images

Liverpool's midfield trio of Naby Keita, Fabinho and Adam Lallana struggled to gain control of proceedings and, after Keita lost the ball in midfield, only a diving save by Alisson Becker could keep Hernandez's powerful, long-range shot out of the goal.

Roberto Firmino did force a save from Lukasz Fabianski down the other end of the pitch, but it was an easy save in the end and not one that would have filled the West Ham team with terror.

But when Adam Lallana showed great technique to somehow outwit a handful of West Ham players to play the ball to James Milner, Liverpool got the slice of luck they were looking for.

Milner, who returned to Liverpool's starting line-up following one-game suspension, was clearly in an offside position when he received Lallana's ball but, with the linesman's flag failing to go up, he set up Mane who swivelled and fired in the opener.

AFP/Getty Images

Despite being on the unfortunate end of an incorrect officiating decision, West Ham responded just six minutes later when, from Felipe Anderson's free-kick, Antonio all too easily shrugged off his marker Keita to drive in a low effort that left Alisson standing helplessly frozen to the spot.

West Ham could then have taken the lead after Declan Rice - being played onside by Keita - headed a free-kick wide despite being unmarked and being in plenty of space.

Rice knew how important the chance was - and responded to his miss by screaming and banging the pitch as West Ham trudged off into the break knowing they should have been leading the contest.

Klopp sent his Liverpool players back out onto the pitch first, and he saw an improvement in his team's performance, particularly, the pace with which they launched attacks.

Liverpool FC via Getty Images

But the Reds' lack of cutting edge in front of goal resulted in Xherdan Shaqiri being sent on for Lallana as Divock Origi replaced Roberto Firmino.

Still, it was a tiring West Ham side who created the next opportunity at goal but Mark Noble fired over the bar despite Liverpool's defence being out of position.

There were to be no further goals as West Ham stood firm against a Liverpool side who ultimately ran out of ideas with a side dealing with an increasing injury crisis.

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