LIVERPOOL, England, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Liverpool exploited West Ham United's weakness at set pieces to secure a 5-2 win in their Premier League clash at Anfield on Saturday, but the hosts did not have it all their own way as they struggled to shake off the relegation-threatened Londoners.
The win takes the Merseysiders up to fifth, level on 48 points with fourth-placed Manchester United, who play on Sunday. West Ham stay 18th on 25 points, two points off Nottingham Forest in the safety zone and having played a game more.
All three of Liverpool’s first-half goals – Hugo Ekitike’s opener after five minutes, Virgil van Dijk’s header 19 minutes later and Alexis Mac Allister’s volley just before the break – came from West Ham’s inability to deal with corners effectively.
However, despite their handsome lead, Liverpool looked shaky in defence and disaster almost struck on the half-hour mark.
Goalkeeper Alisson played the ball straight to Jarrod Bowen as he played out from the back but the West Ham midfielder could not control it and it rolled back to the keeper who cleared.
Things began to unravel when Tomas Soucek pulled a goal back for West Ham early in the second half and the home side's nerves were apparent when Cody Gakpo missed a sitter in the 54th.
However, the Dutchman made amends after 70 minutes, cutting in from the left and driving a shot into the net at the foot of the far post to make it 4-1.
That should have killed the game off, but West Ham finally got a corner to work in their favour in the 75th as the ball sailed over the Liverpool defence, leaving Valentin Castellanos with the simple task of heading into the net to make it 4-2.
That was as close as West Ham got though and thevisitors ran out of luck shortly afterwards when Liverpool substitute Jeremie Frimpong drove the ball in from the right-hand side of the box and Axel Disasi steered it into his own net.
Liverpool's Gakpo brushed off his side's struggles against a team who are now 13 places below them in the table and welcomed the home side's set-piece effectiveness.
"Step by step, we're getting a better team. We had a difficult moment during the season, but hopefully these last few games are the start of something beautiful," he told Sky Sports.
"There is a lot to play for. Hopefully, we can keep the momentum we have and end the season in a good way ... when the game is stuck and you know you can score from a set piece, we lacked that earlier in the season."
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing by Ken Ferris)
