Liverpool stretched their lead at the top of the English Premier League to eight points as they thrashed a poor West Ham United side 5-0 at the London Stadium on Sunday night.
It was another capital goal-fest for Arne Slot’s irresistible side after the 6-3 win at Tottenham seven days previously, the outcome never in doubt as a first-half masterclass left a desperately passive Hammers well beaten.
Liverpool had already missed several chances before Luis Diaz gave them the lead with a powerful finish on the half-hour mark.
Cody Gakpo was then the beneficiary of Mohamed Salah’s brilliant footwork to add a second after 40 minutes, before the Egyptian inevitably got in on the act himself with a low drive on the stroke of half-time for his 20th goal of an excellent season.
Julen Lopetegui’s side could not even manage damage limitation as Trent Alexander-Arnold added the fourth after 54 minutes when his long-range effort took a deflection off Max Kilman’s head past Alphonse Areola.
Only Mohammed Kudus offered anything resembling hope for the hosts, hitting the woodwork in each half while Luis Guilherme did the same just before the end, but this was no consolation as they were utterly outclassed by this rampant Liverpool outfit.
The gap in quality was emphasised six minutes from time when Salah bamboozled several West Ham defenders with a brilliant run from inside his own half before setting up substitute Diogo Jota for a typically clinical finish.
Earlier on Sunday, Nottingham Forest climbed to second place in the Premier League with a 2-0 win at Everton, while reigning champions Manchester City ended their year with a morale-boosting victory by the same scoreline at Leicester City.
Tottenham Hotspur found little festive comfort though as they were held to a 2-2 home draw by Wolverhampton Wanderers to leave them with one win from their last seven league games.
Fulham and Bournemouth — both mounting unlikely challenges for European qualification — drew 2-2 at Craven Cottage, while Crystal Palace came from behind to beat bottom club Southampton 2-1 and ease further clear of danger.
Few would have imagined that Manchester City would end the year outside the top four and six points behind Forest but their calamitous form in the past two months has left Pep Guardiola’s side with little hope of winning five straight titles.
It was hardly a vintage performance at Leicester but at least Guardiola could smile on his 500th game in charge as goals by Savinho and Erling Haaland sealed a first win in five Premier League games and their second in 14 across all competitions.
Savinho netted his first goal for City in the 21st minute, firing home a shot from a narrow angle after Phil Foden’s effort had been pushed out by Leicester goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk.
The home side created plenty of chances to equalise but Haaland headed in Savinho’s cross late on to seal the points and push City up to fifth with 31 from 19 games, four behind fourth-placed Chelsea who have a game in hand.
Forest made it five successive league wins as goals by Chris Wood, his 11th in the league this season, and Morgan Gibbs-White were enough to see off Everton at Goodison Park.
The win gives Forest, who battled against relegation for much of last season, 37 points after 19 games.
Norwegian substitute Jorgen Strand Larsen grabbed a point for Wolves at Tottenham with a late equaliser — a result that edged them two points clear of the drop zone.
Wolves had taken an early lead as Hwang Hee-Chan fired a low shot that went in off the post.
It was the 15th time in 2024 that Tottenham had gone behind at home in the Premier League but they responded well with Rodrigo Bentancur heading an equaliser and Brennan Johnson putting them in front after Son Heung-min missed a penalty.
Strand Larsen struck in the 87th minute to leave Spurs languishing in 11th with 24 points from 19 games – the first time they will finish a year lower than seventh since the 2008-2009 season.
Bournemouth’s Dango Ouattara scored a late equaliser at Fulham to leave them in sixth place on 30 points and the west London side eighth with 29.
Southampton’s return to the top flight has been a demoralising experience for their fans and the south-coast club have reached the halfway mark with six points from 19 games after losing 2-1 at Palace.
Tyler Dibling gave Saints the lead but the hosts hit back with goals by Eberechi Eze and Trevor Chalobah to move up one place to 15th in the table, six points above the drop zone.
RESULTS
West Ham 0-5 Liverpool
Leicester City 0-2 Manchester City
Everton 0-2 Nottingham Forest
Crystal Palace 2-1 Southampton
Fulham 2-2 Bournemouth
Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Wolves
Agency reports
