Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane were both on the scoresheet as Liverpool eased to a 4-0 win over West Ham United in their Premier League opener at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.
Liverpool came into the game looking to pick up from an impressive 2017-18 campaign, with a lot of eyes also on star man Salah to see if the Egyptian could replicate his stunning form from the last campaign.
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West Ham, on the other hand, were looking to put a turbulent season behind them under new manager Manuel Pellegrini. The game offered the Chilean tactician the chance to test out his players against top-quality opposition.
The Reds started the game well and it did not take them long to take the lead. It was Salah who was in the right place to tap home a pin-point cross from Andrew Robertson with just 19 minutes played.
Salah then had a chance to double the home side’s lead but his shot was well smothered by West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.
As the clock ticked into injury time at the end of the first half, Klopp’s team doubled their lead. Some beautiful build-up play switched the ball to James Milner, who did brilliantly to pick out an unmarked Mane for a simple tap-in.
West Ham knew they needed a big second half but not long after the restart, they found themselves 3-0 down. Roberto Firmino slipped Mane though on goal, the Senegalese international looked to be offside but the linesman didn’t raise his flag and the Liverpool forward drilled his shot into the bottom corner.
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The Hammers could never find a way back into the game as the home side dominated possession.
Daniel Sturridge added the icing on the cake when he scored 20 seconds after coming on. The Englishman bundled in Milner’s corner at the back post on the 88th-minute mark.
The final score was 4-0 at Anfield as the Reds opened their Premier League campaign in fine style.