Jurgen Klopp was delighted with the way his Liverpool side bounced back from a Lucas Paqueta ‘screamer’ during Wednesday’s 2-1 Premier League win away at West Ham United.
Whisper it but Champions League qualification is not yet out of the question. Far from it.
They haven’t always been convincing, and those defensive issues remain very obvious to the naked eye, but it’s three league wins in a row now for a Liverpool side who leapfrogged managerless Tottenham Hotspur into sixth place in midweek.
Lucas Paqueta’s early stunner – scoring his back-to-back games for the first time in two years – gave David Moyes’ in-form West Ham an early lead at the London Stadium. The ever-improving Cody Gakpo canceled out the hosts’ advantage just six minutes later, however.
And, after Jarrod Bowen had a super solo goal ruled out for offside, a thumping Joel Matip winner ensured all three points traveled back up north to Merseyside.
Liverpool bounce back to beat West Ham at London Stadium
“I liked the performance a lot, big parts of it. First half, I think we were exceptional,” Klopp tells the Liverpool website.
“Controlled the game from the beginning pretty much. (We) made one mistake and bam – 1-0 down. Great goal, I have to say – what a screamer.”
After a slow start to life in England, Brazil international Paqueta is finally living up to his lofty price tag in claret-and-blue. This was his second outstanding finish in the space of just four days; Paqueta doing a fine ‘Ronaldo vs Roma’ tribute act with a thumping header against Bournemouth on Sunday.
“(We) stayed calm (after Paqueta’s opener), kept playing, scored our screamer as well, and controlled the game,” Klopp adds.
“I am not 100 percent sure, but it felt like around 80 percent possession and that is difficult. Second half I liked as well.
“We had to really dig in deep then because of the physicality of West Ham. They always have a chance to come back as long as you don’t kill the game – and we didn’t.
“In the end, if you look at the game, I think we are the deserved winner. And that is, for me, very important. If we got a point, I’m still happy with the game, not with the result.
“Now, I’m happy with both.”
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