West Ham left fuming by late decision in Liverpool loss

In-form Brazilian Lucas Paquetá had given the Hammers a 12th-minute lead with his third goal in successive matches to take his tally to five since his record £50million move from Olympique Lyonnais last summer, before another FIFA 2022 World Cup star – Dutchman Cody Gakpo – levelled with a low, long-ranger shortly afterwards.

And after Jarrod Bowen had a goal ruled out for offside 10 minutes after the restart, Joel Matip headed Liverpool to victory – and sixth spot – midway through the second half of an eventful end-to-end encounter

But with the Hammers still pressing all the way to the final whistle, they were controversially denied that last-gasp spot-kick after substitute Thiago’s blatant handball went unpunished to the fury of everyone in claret and blue.

With the so-called title-decider being played out between big-hitting Manchester City and Arsenal some 200 miles away, this match was very much on the Premier League undercard.

Nevertheless, both sides still had much to play for with Liverpool hoping to make a late charge for European qualification, while West Ham sought to continue shoring up their league position after a run of just one defeat in their last half-dozen matches that had left them six precious points above the relegation places.

Indeed, with a solitary reverse in their last 10 games in all competitions, the Hammers came into thus contest buoyed by last Thursday’s qualification for the UEFA Conference League semi-finals and a thumping 4-0 victory over fellow strugglers Bournemouth on Sunday.

Since then, Moyes had celebrated his 60th birthday and seen the Academy of Football’s starlets gloriously lift the FA Youth Cup with a fantastic 5-1 win over the young guns of Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.

After enduring a chequered few months, the beleaguered Scot has been enjoying some brief respite in recent weeks and with his side kicking off in 14th spot following that vital Vitality Stadium victory three days earlier, he named an unchanged starting line-up.

Michail Antonio had already scored in back-to-back games and, inside five minutes, he looked poised to make it a hat-trick of headers when he ghosted in at the far post but Bowen’s teasing cross was tantalisingly just too high.

In reply, Liverpool forced a trio of corners but, once again the breaking Bowen posed more danger with another burst down the right flank, however when his low cross arrived at Saïd Benrahma’s feet, the Algerian international inexplicably tried to control rather than shoot first time and a golden chance went to waste.

It proved third time lucky on a dozen minutes, though, when Paquetá collected the ball on the left wing before cutting infield towards the edge of the area, where the Brazilian played a deft one-two with Antonio before curling an exquisite 18-yarder beyond the groping glove of compatriot Alisson and under the left-hand angle.

The rampant Reds had beaten Leeds United 6-1 on their last awayday and, after eventually overcoming Nottingham Forest in a five-goal thriller at Anfield on Saturday to go seventh in the table, Jürgen Klopp made just one switch with Matip replacing Ibrahima Konaté.

With his side a goal behind in the capital, left-back Andy Robertson tried an audacious 40-yard chip which the back-pedalling Łukasz Fabiański gratefully gathered under his crossbar but the Polish stopper was not so fortunate when Trent Alexander-Arnold stole forward on the opposite flank in the 18th minute.

Playing more forward in midfield than in his guarded full-back role, he found a route to Gakpo, who took a touch 20 yards out before unleashing a grass-cutter that dissected central defenders Nayef Aguerd and Kurt Zouma before creeping inside the base of Fabiański’s right-hand post.

That was the Dutch striker’s sixth strike since arriving on Merseyside from PSV Eindhoven in the New Year but from West Ham’s viewpoint it was a poor goal to concede so quickly after getting their noses in front.

Indeed, it could have got even worse for the Hammers but Diogo Jota volleyed inches over the bar before Fabinho shanked a speculative wayward effort into the adjoining postcode from distance.

With the break approaching, the unmarked Jota should have given the visitors a half-time lead when he met Mohammed Salah’s deep cross, but somehow he sent his downward header the wrong side of Fabiański’s right-hand post.

The Hammers might also have stolen an interval lead of their own, when that man Bowen sent an angled cross-shot towards the far upright, where Virgil van Dijk stole in to clear from the sliding Antonio and give the hosts their first corner of the evening.

With the game ebbing and flowing at the start of the second period, too, that was never more in evidence than on 55 minutes, when the imperious Declan Rice brilliantly thwarted Salah in the act of shooting.

And with the ball then finding its way upfield, the barnstorming Bowen brilliantly held off his markers before drilling an angled eight-yarder across the face of Alisson and into the far corner.

But East End ecstasy quickly turned to utter despair following a Video Assistant Referee review that deemed the West Ham attacker marginally offside.

Despite seeing that goal chalked off to keep his team level, Klopp still opted for a double switch as Jordan Henderson and Jota stood down for Thiago and Luis Díaz and the German did not have to wait long to reap the rewards of that change.

Midway through the half, Matip met Robertson’s corner with a point-blank header that was somehow blocked on the line by Fabiański before the ball was deflected behind for another free-kick.

Sadly, the Hammers did not heed that warning for when Robertson sent another carbon-copy cross towards the edge of the six-yard box, this time Matip rose unchallenged to almost rip the net off its hooks with a powerful header that doubled his tally for the season.

Now it was Moyes turn to shuffle his pack, hooking Antonio and Benrahma and throwing on Maxwel Cornet and former Liverpool striker Danny Ings, who was soon tackled by the figure of Alisson rushing from goal after Rice had brilliantly sent the newly arrived substitute galloping across the Stratford turf.

Next it was Bowen’s turn to force the Liverpool keeper into a low save, while the visitors somehow escaped that late vociferous cry for a stonewall penalty after the grounded Thiago had thwarted Ings with his trailing elbow and that left Moyes apoplectic at final whistle.

With no opportunity for referee Chris Kavanagh to even visit his pitchside monitor, Moyes marched towards the centre circle to remonstrate with the official, furious that the denial of that spot-kick had ended his side’s fine run.

And with the cushion between 14th place and the drop zone now reduced to five points, the disappointed, hard done by Hammers must now head to Crystal Palace on Saturday lunchtime (12.30pm) and try to regroup, once more.

WEST HAM UNITED: Fabiański, Coufal, Cresswell, Zouma, Aguerd, Rice, Souček, Paquetá, Benrahma (Cornet 70), Bowen, Antonio (Ings 70). Unused subs: Areola, Fornals, Lanzini, Downes, Ogbonna, Kehrer, Emerson.

LIVERPOOL: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Robertson, Van Dijk, Matip, Henderson (Thiago 59), Jones (Milner 83), Fabinho, Salah, Jota (Díaz 59), Gakpo (Núñez 77)  Unused subs: Kelleher, Gomez, Elliott, Tsimikas, Carvalho.

Referee: Chris Kavanagh.