West Ham passed up a great chance to take themselves to the brink of Premier League safety after blowing the lead against Liverpool, and former Hammer, James Collins, believes David Moyes will be understandably furious about the way in which one goal was conceded.
With the home crowd behind them, the east Londoners started brightly and were knocking the ball about well. Indeed, the opening goal when it arrived was spectacular in its creation and beautiful to watch, with Liverpool’s players bamboozled as the Hammers cur through them.
A lack of concentration and inability to close down quick enough saw the Reds get back into the game quickly, but there was no one from the home side anywhere near Joel Matip as he soared above West Ham’s defence in the second half to send a bullet header into the net.
Speaking on Radio Five Live at the time, cited by BBC Sport, Collins said:
“It’s not good enough. David Moyes will be furious it’s a free header from six yards out. They’ve asked Benrahma to try and deal with Matip but there’s no one doing a job on him.”
It was definitely an opportunity missed in the end, although Moyes may point to an inconsistent performance from the VAR after Jarrod Bowen had a goal ruled out for offside, and West Ham were denied what looked like a clear penalty for handball.
In any event, that doesn’t escape the fact that, in the big moments of the match, the hosts weren’t up to executing the basic tasks correctly, and no amount of diversion from Moyes is going to change that.