Terrible draw takes second place for a Liverpool that sees Klopp and Salah fight

All that mattered was victory. To still dream of the Premier League title, Liverpool needed to beat West Ham. The result, however, was everything the fans didn’t expect: a 2-2 draw with West Ham and an argument between two idols, Klopp , who is leaving for the possible arrival of Arne Slot, and Mohamed Salah.

The statistics were even in Liverpool’s favor. The team had more possession of the ball (71.3% versus 28.7%), more passes (669 versus 266) and more shots (28 versus 11), but all of this did not lead to 3 points, which was the objective. With the second stumble in a row, after the 2-0 defeat to Everton in the previous round, the Reds are now in a difficult situation in the PL. Klopp’s team remains in 3rd place, now with 75 points. City are right behind with 76 points, but with 2 games less, and Arsenal lead with 77 points, but 1 game less than Liverpool.

Ineffective ball possession

Liverpool started the game with a lot of pressure in a very busy game. Before the 10th minute, West Ham had already accumulated 75% of the ball. All this pressure, however, did not result in goals. With Salah on the bench, striker Luiz Diaz was the most effective in attacking moves.

In a good move in the 26th minute of the first half, VAR came into action. Díaz is thrown behind the defense, but misses his left shot. The ball falls to Gapko in the area, and he is brought down. The play is not converted into a penalty because Díaz was offside.

With Díaz again, now in the 39th minute, the attacker enters the area on the left, gets rid of the marking and shoots low, but the ball hits the West Ham post. Shortly afterwards, West Ham appears with Bowen. In a quick corner kick, Kudus crosses from the left and Bowen manages to head the ball into the middle of the line. Alisson touches the ball, but it’s not enough to prevent the home team from opening the scoring.

Liverpool tried hard, but there was a Michail Antonio in the way

If in the first half the Reds didn’t show much assertiveness in goal, the second half of the match was completely different. Right at the half-time whistle, coach Klopp quickly went to the dressing room and whatever he said to the team, it worked, because the game became much more interesting.

Liverpool needed to win if they were to continue their Premier League title hopes. Just 2 minutes into the 2nd half, Luis Díaz appeared again entering the area from the left and passed it to Robertson, who shot and hit Aréola’s right corner. With the team packed, in the 19th minute, Gapko shot a first-time cross after a corner and unfortunately for West Ham, the ball deflected off Ogbonna and then Soucek, who ended up scoring an own goal for Liverpool, 2-1 for the visitors. .

Díaz appears again at 24 and 27, but Aréola makes two good saves. Next, it’s Alisson’s turn to show his strength and stop a shot from left-back Emerson. But the Brazilian goalkeeper was unable to hold on twice. Bowen got rid of the marking and crossed to Michail Antonio’s head, leaving everything equal on the scoreboard, 2-2.

Disagreement

Shortly after West Ham’s equalizer, the game broadcast showed an argument between Salah and manager Jürgen Klopp on the sidelines. The striker started the game with the group and only entered 33 minutes into the second half, replacing Luis Díaz. Darwin Núñez, who also joined at 33, appeared to break up the disagreement. The scene matches Liverpool’s chaotic moment.

Still in this round and in the title race, City will play against Nottingham Forest, on 4/28, at 12:30 pm. Leader Arsenal plays against Tottenham at 10am. In the next round, Liverpool will face Tottenham at home, on 5/5 at 12:30 pm, Brasília time. On the same day, West Ham will go to Stamford Bridge to play against Chelsea, at 10am.