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Liverpool boosted the push for a Champions League return as Hugo Ekitike inspired a 5-2 win over West Ham at Anfield, scoring once and creating two more, with set-piece strength and an Axel Disasi own goal proving decisive despite persistent pressure from Nuno Espirito Santo’s side.

The victory lifted Arne Slot’s team level on points with fourth-placed Manchester United in the Premier League, underlining the growing impact of Ekitike, who reached 20 goal contributions across all competitions, while West Ham’s bold attacking approach could not prevent another defeat for Nuno Espirito Santo against Liverpool.

Liverpool’s dominance from dead balls, an area Slot highlighted earlier in the season, defined the first half. All three goals before the break came from corners, starting when Ekitike smashed home in the fifth minute after Liverpool recycled the second phase of a Dominik Szoboszlai delivery that West Ham failed to clear properly.

Another Szoboszlai corner produced Liverpool’s second in the 24th minute, Virgil van Dijk rising above the defence to power in a trademark header, before Alexis Mac Allister delivered the most eye-catching strike two minutes before half-time, adjusting neatly to guide the ball in with the outside of a boot.

Mac Allister’s finish owed much to sharp work at the near post, where Ekitike glanced Mohamed Salah’s corner into a dangerous area, allowing Mac Allister to react fastest and score, a move that summed up Liverpool’s improved sharpness from set-pieces that Slot had demanded earlier in the campaign.

Earlier this season, Slot said Liverpool had no chance of making the Premier League’s top four if they did not improve from set-pieces, and it would appear the message was received, with Liverpool becoming only the second side in Premier League history to net three first-half goals from corners in one match.

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Liverpool matched a record first set by Manchester United, who also scored three first-half goals from corners during a 4-1 victory over Leicester City in September 2016, while Ekitike’s opener confirmed a personal landmark, taking the forward to 16 goals and six assists in all competitions this season.

Liverpool vs West Ham: second-half goals, xG numbers and late own goal

West Ham never accepted defeat and carried a threat even at 3-0 down, forcing Liverpool back either side of half-time and deservedly pulling one goal back four minutes after the restart, when Tomas Soucek slid in at the back post to meet El Hadji Malick Diouf’s accurate right-sided cross.

Liverpool briefly looked vulnerable as West Ham pushed forward with confidence, but the contest swung again in the 70th minute when Cody Gakpo received a pass from Ekitike on the edge of the area and fired a shot that deflected off Aaron Wan-Bissaka, wrong-footing the goalkeeper for Liverpool’s fourth goal.

Valentin Castellanos continued West Ham’s resistance by heading in unmarked from Jarrod Bowen’s corner to make it 4-2, and Crysencio Summerville almost created a tense closing spell with another dangerous break, but any hopes of a comeback ended when Axel Disasi diverted Jeremie Frimpong’s low cross into the net on 82 minutes.

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Van Dijk’s goal was the defender’s 28th in the Premier League, a figure that leaves John Terry as the only defender ahead when excluding penalties, with Terry on 41, while Nuno Espirito Santo’s personal record against Liverpool worsened to nine league defeats, more than against any other opponent in the competition.

The underlying statistics reflected a far more balanced contest than the score suggested, with West Ham producing 11 shots and 1.84 expected goals compared to Liverpool’s 18 attempts and 1.75 xG, yet Slot’s team left Anfield with a vital result that strengthens top-four hopes and highlights meaningful improvement at set-pieces.