Life without Fernando Torres is a prospect not worth contemplating for Liverpool but they coped comfortably without their talisman to keep alive their faint hopes of Champions League football tonight. Though not every opponent is as accommodating as West Ham United, of course.
The lowest league gate of the season at Anfield may have been a reflection of Liverpool’s chances of finishing in the top four but against Gianfranco Zola’s anaemic team, victory was never in doubt. Rafael Benítez could have lost his entire strikeforce to injury and Liverpool would still have found a route through a weak visiting defence. A return of four points from their previous two league matches may have given West Ham belief in their Premier League survival, but on this evidence they can take nothing for granted. Roberto Martínez, the observing Wigan Athletic manager, will not be unduly alarmed ahead of their relegation battle at Upton Park this weekend
Across Stanley Park two weeks ago a spirited draw at Everton that ended a run of six successive defeats began to lift the pressure on Zola and West Ham. Victory over Sunderland then increased the flow of confidence through the relegation candidates at a critical moment but, despite an encouraging start, momentum was relinquished cheaply on their return to Merseyside.
Liverpool began tentatively, befitting a side that failed to score against Fulham on their last outing at Anfield and one striving to rediscover their potency without their one world-class striker for the rest of this trying season. Thanks to costly lapses in concentration in the West Ham defence, however, the home side were able to assume complete control without having to raise their performance to any exalted heights.
The man at the helm of several financially troubled institutions, Martin Broughton, the British Airways chairman, Liverpool’s new independent chairman and the man charged with completing the sale of the club for Tom Hicks and George Gillett, was present for the first time since joining the Anfield board on Friday. Along with 37,000 others, his stupor was eventually lifted with a goal of breathtaking simplicity for Yossi Benayoun, the former West Ham midfielder, who responded to the jeers that accompanied his every touch from the away section in the most damaging way possible.
Steven Gerrard whipped over a low free-kick from the right, awarded after a needless foul by Jonathan Spector on David Ngog, and the Israel captain found himself completely unmarked in front of goal and able to steer the ball beyond Robert Green with his chest. Benayoun’s body shape suggested he may have used an arm to score off the inside of the post but West Ham’s appeals were decidedly muted, and replays vindicated the officials’ decision to allow the goal to stand. There was no excuse for West Ham. Gerrard had tried a similar trick moments earlier when Dirk Kuyt and Benayoun were both left unmarked at a free-kick only for the former to be ruled offside. The failure to heed the warning proved costly.
Liverpool doubled their lead 10 minutes later through Ngog, the young French striker who suffers for paling by comparison with Torres but whom Zola had correctly identified as a genuine threat with his movement around the box.
Benayoun was again central to the goal, cutting inside and picking out Maxi Rodríguez wide on the right, and when the Argentina winger crossed low Ngog reacted far quicker than Matthew Upson to sweep a fine finish through Green’s suspect defences. It was a goal to worry Fabio Capello as well as his compatriot in the West Ham dugout.
A comfortable lead and precious little threat from the visitors made ideal preparation for Liverpool’s Europa League semi-final against Atlético Madrid. The proposed journey to the Spanish capital presents a bigger problem than anything West Ham could offer.
Carlton Cole’s shot from the angle of the area, saved by Jose Reina shortly after Benayoun’s opener, was the only moment of danger from the Hammers inside the first hour and consistently appalling defending at set-pieces was no basis for a Wigan-like recovery.
Liverpool eased further ahead courtesy of another Gerrard free-kick. This time the captain’s deep delivery from the left found Sotirios Kyrgiakos receiving scant attention from Upson at the back post. The Greece defender stretched to divert the ball against the post, and the rebound struck the unfortunate Green on the leg before rolling over the line. The stroll was complete.
Premier LeagueLiverpoolWest Ham UnitedAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk
