Harri Burton

Wed 20 December 2023 21:56, UK

Jarrod Bowen scored a late consolation goal as Liverpool ran away with a 5-1 victory against West Ham to reach the EFL Cup semi-finals.

Dominik Szoboszlai fired home a long-range effort in a first half dominated by Liverpool but the Hammers were still in the game. However, a Curtis Jones brace, a Cody Gakpo strike and a Mo Salah breakaway goal sandwiched a Bowen stunner to break Hammers hearts in a matter of minutes.

Attention will turn to the Premier League, with an upcoming fixture against Manchester United on the horizon. But after the embarrassment of a 5-0 loss to Fulham 10 days ago, David Moyes will be fuming to concede five goals again.

Here, West Ham Zone rates the West Ham players out of 10 for their performances against Liverpool.

Alphonse Areola – 2

A shaky start to the game was extremely helpful for the defenders in front of him, with several of Areola’s passes fired straight out of play. The Frenchman should have done a lot better for Curtis Jones’ goal, allowing Liverpool to score a second from a very tight angle.

Vladamir Coufal – 4

It was a much better display from the Czech defender after his poor showing against Wolves last time out. He did well to keep Darwin Nunez quiet but was unable to offer anything going forward and could not stop West Ham’s capitulation in the final 10 minutes of the match.

Konstantinos Mavropanos – 4

Due to Areola’s uncertainty behind him, Mavropanos also looked unsteady in defence and caused the Hammers more problems in an already difficult match against a controlling Liverpool team. There were several issues in defence, with the whole team shipping five goals again.

Angelo Ogbonna – 5

Ogbonna is always a trusted figure in the West Ham squad despite deputising as a rotational player this season under Moyes. His 240 appearances in East London are enough to see him through a tough match, even against the likes of free-flowing Liverpool. The Italian did not do much wrong but was punished for a poor team performance.

Ben Johnson – 3

Johnson broke one of the first rules a novice defender is taught in football – never turn your back. That is exactly what the full-back did as his lackadaisically closed down Szoboszlai before the Hungarian opened the scoring for Liverpool. Not an impressive third senior appearance of the season, having trained with the Under 21s recently.

Tomas Soucek – 2

Soucek only managed a handful of touches in the West Ham midfield, with teammate Edson Alvarez far more involved. A loose touch in midfield led to Cody Gakpo bagging Liverpool’s third goal of the night and did not even bother to track back to defend. Despite standing at 6ft 2in, Soucek lost 50 per cent of aerial and ground duels he entered into. [FotMob]

Edson Alvarez – 4

Booked for a wild tackle on Harvey Elliott, Alvarez was unable to take any control in midfield and was forced to walk a tightrope for the best part of 40 minutes against a dominant Liverpool side without committing too many more offences.

Pablo Fornals – 3

Fornal presence in midfield was undetectable against Liverpool, lacking composure on the ball and was easily dispossessed by Wataru Endo, Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones throughout his … minutes on the pitch. Another sorry display for the Hammers since recent rumours of the club wanting to sell him.

Said Benrahma – 5

Benrahma looked to be West Ham’s most dangerous outlet but was guilty of being dispossessed on a couple of occasions, leading to a Liverpool counterattack. He was pushing the most for a goal, though.

Mohammed Kudus – 4

Kudus was one of the more involved of the attacking quartet, with Areola attempting to use the winger as an outlet of pressure on occasion. But without much support in midfield or attack, the Ghanaian lost the ball most times and became a frustrated figure.

Jarrod Bowen – 5

The problem with Moyes deploying Bowen up front is that he was virtually ineffective throughout most of the match against Virgil van Dijk and Jarell Quansah, but he grew into the game as the opposition backline grew tired. The England international wrapped a beautiful effort into Caoimhin Kelleher’s far post but it was just a consolation goal with 13 minutes left to play.

Substitutes

Lucas Paqueta (On for Said Benrahma 57′) – 2

Moyes was bringing the Brazilian on to make a difference, with West Ham only losing by a single goal. That was until Jones swept home Liverpool’s second and the substitution seemed a bit pointless. He was not involved at all and struggled to make any impact.

Thilo Kehrer (On for Vladamir Coufal 73′) – N/A

James Ward-Prowse (On for Mohammed Kudus 73′) – N/A

In other West Ham news, a Premier League stat has shown how West Ham benefit compared to rival teams.