‘Funny’ – Lewis Steele was amused by one second-half moment in cathartic Liverpool victory
Liverpool recorded a cathartic victory this afternoon as they got the better of West Ham at the London Stadium on a 2-0 scoreline.
Alexander Isak opened the scoring on the hour mark with his first Premier League goal for the Reds, with Cody Gakpo putting the result beyond any lingering doubt in stoppage time as Arne Slot’s side arrested a three-match losing streak.
Incredibly, these are the first points that LFC have collected away from home in the top flight since winning at Burnley in mid-September, and it’s our first win in eight visits to London since January.
Liverpool win as Paqueta sees red in bizarre fashion
With just under 10 minutes remaining, Lucas Paqueta was shown a yellow card for dissent but continued to vent his fury at referee Darren England.
Alisson Becker came over to try and placate his fellow Brazil international, but the West Ham player continued to berate the official and talked himself in to a second booking and a subsequent red.
Like everyone else watching on, Lewis Steele could hardly believe what he witnessed as he observed (via X): ‘Funny that Alisson seemed to be telling his Brazil team-mate Lucas Paqueta to calm down but then decided to run back to his goal and leave Paqueta to get sent off.’
Admirable from Alisson, foolish from Paqueta
It’ll go down as one of the most bizarre red cards of the Premier League season, and Irons manager Nuno Espirito Santo must be absolutely fuming at the playmaker, who’d only just returned from a suspension after receiving five top-flight yellow cards.
None of that will worry Liverpool, for whom Florian Wirtz played a starring role at the London Stadium and fellow summer signing Isak will feel a huge weight lifted from his shoulders after his well-taken finish past Alphonse Areola.
It was admirable from Alisson to put club rivalries aside and try to calm down his international teammate, but Paqueta foolishly kept arguing with all and sundry and could have no complaints about his red card.
The Reds were in control of the match before that incident and would almost certainly have gone on to win even had it been 11 v 11, but the bizarre sending off made our task slightly easier for the final few minutes as we finally emerged with a win from the capital city after 10 months of waiting!
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