Liverpool 1-0 West Ham: Nunez scores & secures 3 points, Bowen misses penalty

Darwin Nunez's first Anfield goal for Liverpool and Jarrod Bowen's penalty miss helped Jurgen Klopp's side back-up Sunday's win over Manchester City with another three Premier League points in their 1-0 victory over West Ham, despite a nervy finish.

Match Report

The Uruguayan (22), like his team-mates, seems to be finding some form and thumped a header into the ground and past Lukasz Fabianski for his third goal in four games - and could have had another in the first half when he blasted a shot against a post.

Liverpool were dominant at that point but they had a let-off just before the interval when Bowen struck a penalty at a comfortable height for Alisson to save, after Joe Gomez's clumsy challenge on the Hammers' forward was reviewed by VAR.

After a triple change early in the second half, Liverpool resumed their control of the contest and should have added more goals, with Roberto Firmino and Curtis Jones going close before Kurt Zouma deflected Jordan Henderson's cross onto his own bar.

However, Liverpool's wastefulness gave West Ham hope of grabbing something late on and it took a crucial block from James Milner to prevent Tomas Soucek equalising from close range with three minutes to play.

Ultimately, though, West Ham, who beat Liverpool in London last season, were defeated on the road for a 10th time this calendar year and David Moyes' record of never having won at Anfield goes on. This defeat leaves them 13th in the table, while those consecutive wins now have Liverpool seventh.

How Liverpool made it back-to-back wins

Four days on from beating defending champions Manchester City, Liverpool aimed to maintain their revival against a side who have a sorry record at Anfield. West Ham had won on just one of their last 49 league trips here, although it was Alisson in the Liverpool goal who was looking nervy early on, sending a couple of passes straight to the opposition.

That seemed to set the tone for Liverpool's build-up play, with some loose passes stalling their progress up the pitch - but once they did make their way into the final third they came alive.

Fabianski had to tip over a rasping Nunez strike from an angle on 15 minutes but he was soon picking the ball out of his net when the Uruguayan headed in off the turf. Nunez's ecstatic celebrations showed what his first goal at this stadium in a red shirt meant to him.

The Reds kept the pressure on, with Fabianski having to save at his near post from Nunez seconds after the restart before Mohamed Salah got a taste for the action, shooting wide, over and then at the West Ham goalkeeper before Nunez crashed another effort against a post.

It was all Liverpool - until Gomez gave the visitors a lifeline on the brink of half-time. His challenge on Bowen, as the West Ham forward tried to bring the ball down on his chest in the box, was clumsy and unnecessary, with his opponent going away from goal. He was initially let off but VAR advised Stuart Attwell to take another look.

Bowen's spot-kick was West Ham's first shot of the half but it was a poor one, at a generous height for Alisson to push it away. That is the second penalty West Ham have missed this season, after Declan Rice's error against Nottingham Forest in August.

Jordan Henderson and Nunez shot over early in the second half but with Liverpool not looking quite as authoritative as before the break, Jurgen Klopp made a triple change before the hour, with Fabinho, Harvey Elliott and Jones sent on to living things up.

It seemed to be the spark Liverpool needed, with a series of chances coming and going for Roberto Firmino, who was denied by a good block from Aaron Cresswell and saw a shot stopped at close range by Fabianski before Jones blasted over.

West Ham mustered half-chances for Said Benrahma and Gianluca Scamacca either side of Zouma almost turning into his own net but with Liverpool still only leading by one in the final minutes, the visitors played on some nerves and almost grabbed an equaliser when Bowen squared for Soucek - but Milner popped up at the vital moment.

Milner was a key player against Man City on Sunday and his decisive intervention on Wednesday helped Liverpool seal a follow-up win. The performance may not have been their best but it was another step in the right direction.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

5' Firmino's long shot wide out

15' Nunez's long shot stopped

21' GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 West Ham (Darwin Núñez)

24' Nunez's shot stopped again

35' Salah's shot wide out

39' CLOSE! Nunez hits the post

44' Penalty Missed! (Bowen)

63' Firmino's shot wide out

70' Benrahma's shot too straight

78' Zouma almost scores an own goal

84' Salah's shot stopped

87' CLOSE! Soucek misses a golden chance!

Line-ups

Liverpool XI: Henderson, Thiago, Alisson, Firmino, Salah, Van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Tsimikas, Alexander-Arnold, Darwin Núñez, Fabio Carvalho

Subs: Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Fabinho, Robertson, Kelleher, Curtis Jones, Nathaniel Phillips, Elliott, Bobby Clark

West Ham XI: Fabianski, Cresswell, Zouma, Kehrer, Soucek, Bowen, Scamacca, Rice, Fornals, Ben Johnson, Flynn Downes

Subs: Randolph, Ogbonna, Antonio, Areola, Lanzini, Vladimir Coufal, Emerson, Saïd Benrahma, Coventry