Premier League
West Ham United 3-1 Liverpool 

Saturday, 20th September 2014
by Gordon Thrower

Sweet. Especially to those of us of a certain age.



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Player Ratings

Adrian San Miguel del Castillo
Only had a couple of saves to make. A bit concerned at his reaction to Balotelli's niggly foul which left him only a scouse dive away from a dismissal.


Guy Demel
Got forward well first half. Reasonbly solid defensively in the second.


Aaron Cresswell
Possibly might have got out a wee bit quicker to bock Sterling's shot but overall a good performance.


Winston Reid
Even taking the goal out of the equation this was his best match for a while.


James Tomkins
Good defensively and set up Reid nicely for the first.


Mark Noble
Helped boss a midfield against a team that are in the Champions League (no really they are). Not England quality though, apparently. I liked his captain's admonishment of Adrian after tha Balotelli spat.


Cheikhou Kouyate
Another who put in a fine shift. Even more so considering that he plyed formuch of the game with a groin problem that looked as if he'd need to go off on a couple of occasions.


Alex Song
Understandably knackered at the end of his stint but what a great stint it was. There were a number of MOTM candidates but he shades it by the narrowest of margins.


Stewart Downing
If you get a chance, take a look at his celebration after the third goal. Not for him this modern trend of not celebrating against your old club. Looks twice the player in this more central role.


Diafra Sakho
He ran his socks off and thoroughly deserved the goal, meant or otherwise. It's been a while since we had two mobile players up front hasn't it?


Enner Valencia
Beginning to find his feet in the English game, he was a constant handful to the Liverpool defence.



Substitutes

Carl Jenkinson
(Replaced Demel) More of a defensive role than that of Demel who he replaced. Acquitted himself well.


Morgan Amalfitano
(Replaced Song) Just as I was saying that he hadn't featured much since coming on, he chipped in with a fine finish to seal the points.


James Collins
(Replaced Valencia) Managed to avoid the faux-pas' that have characterised his recent outings and one thundering but perfectly-timed tackle at the end got the crowd going.


Jussi Jaaskelainen
Did not play.


Ricardo Vaz Te
Did not play.


Mauro Zarate
Did not play.


Carlton Cole
Did not play.



Match Facts

West Ham United: Adrian San Miguel del Castillo, Guy Demel, Aaron Cresswell, Winston Reid, James Tomkins, Mark Noble, Cheikhou Kouyate, Alex Song, Stewart Downing, Diafra Sakho, Enner Valencia.

Goals: Winston Reid 2 Diafra Sakho 7 Morgan Amalfitano 88              .

Booked: Winston Reid 4 Adrian 17 Cheikhou Kouyate 28 Carl Jenkinson 66    .

Sent Off: None sent off.     .

Liverpool: Simon Mignolet, Javi Manquillo, Martin Skrtel, Dejan Lovren, Alberto Moreno, Lucas, Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson, Mario Balotelli, Fabio Borini, Raheem Sterling.

Subs not used: Brad Jones, Jose Enrique, Kolo Toure, Lazar Markovic.

Goals: Raheem Sterling (26).

Booked: Mario Balotelli (17).

Sent off: None.

Referee: Craig Pawson.

Attendance: 34,977.

Man of the Match: Alex Song.