Liverpool are six points away from sealing a 20th Premier League title after Virgil van Dijk went from zero to hero with a late header to seal a 2-1 win over West Ham.
With Liverpool winning 1-0 thanks to Luis Diaz’s first-half opener from a stunning Mohamed Salah assist, Van Dijk got involved in an awful mix-up with Andy Robertson for the latter to score an own goal in the 86th minute.
But moments later captain Van Dijk rose highest above West Ham substitute Niclas Fullkrug from a corner in front of the Kop to establish Liverpool a 13-point lead at the top of the Premier League.
Though there may have been a push by Van Dijk on the Hammers forward, which VAR did not punish. “Nice little shove isn’t there?” said Roy Keane. “I thought VAR would look at that but obviously not!”
Should Arsenal lose to Ipswich next weekend on Super Sunday, Liverpool will know victory over Leicester, also live on Sky Sports, will mathematically secure the title with five games to spare.
Asked if Liverpool can now “touch the title”, Mohamed Salah said: “We can say that now. We owe the fans one, especially as when we won it, we won it in lockdown. So let’s go for it and win it!”
Liverpool were ultimately lucky to come away with the win, with Jamie Carragher calling the Reds “lethargic” and “distinctively average” after their opener.
Anfield was initially a cauldron of noise after a good week for the club. Two days after his new Liverpool contract was confirmed, Salah entered the record books in setting up Diaz’s opener.
Salah broke the record for most goal involvements in a 38-game Premier League season – and he did it in some style. A glorious outside-of-the-boot pass unlocked the West Ham defence and allowed Diaz to tap into an empty net.
But West Ham grew into the game almost straight away. Mohammed Kudus saw his effort tipped onto the bar by Alisson almost immediately after Diaz’s opener. Konstantinos Mavropanos missed a sitter from a corner right before half-time and West Ham’s pressure continued after the break, despite Alexis Mac Allister hitting the Hammers bar from a free-kick.
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson, back in the team after concussion, stood tall to deny Jarrod Bowen in a one-on-one, while he also tipped Kudus’ low drive wide of the far post. Carlos Soler also missed a good chance from Bowen’s cross.
Eventually, the pressure told as Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s cross should have been cleared by Van Dijk and Robertson – but the pair collided as the ball went in last off the Scot.
With Liverpool set to drop more points, up stepped their captain as his header sent Anfield wild. Amid the celebrations, Robertson gave Van Dijk a kiss – one of gratitude and relief – on the forehead.
West Ham will feel hard done by as they drop to 17th, but when it comes to the top of the table and the title, Liverpool are nearly there.
Zero to hero! Van Dijk’s messes up with Robertson – then gets the WINNER!
Van Dijk on his error, his winner – and his contract
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk to Sky Sports:
On the West Ham equaliser: “I heard Robertson shout, but these things unfortunately happen. It was time to make it right, and luckily we did.
On the winner: “Finally, we had many set-pieces, we train a lot on corners and tried to be important. Today, finally, I could score the winner and onto the next.
On his contract: “I can say I’m very proud to captain my 100th game for Liverpool, it was an emotional day with the Hillsborough anniversary.
“That was the main focus: get three points, get a step closer to all of our dreams – not just players, staff – everyone connected to Liverpool FC.
“Everyone knows how much I love this club, let’s see what next week will look like.”
Story of the match in stats…
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