Liverpool Break Their Slump as Isak and Gakpo Sink 10-Man West Ham at the London Stadium

Liverpool finally found the response Arne Slot has been crying out for, grinding out a much-needed 2–0 win against West Ham United at the London Stadium to halt their alarming slide down the Premier League table. It was a performance built on patience, discipline and quality in key moments — while West Ham unravelled in the defining moment of the match when Lucas Paqueta talked himself into a red card.

The match began with Liverpool looking sharper and more assured than in recent weeks, carving out the better chances in a cagey opening 45 minutes. Alphonse Areola was kept busy, denying Isak from close range, parrying Wirtz’s goal-bound attempt, and getting behind a low drive from Alexis Mac Allister. Virgil van Dijk powered a header over the bar, while Isak skied another effort after brilliant link-up play involving Wirtz and Gakpo.

West Ham, meanwhile, struggled to break Liverpool down, registering just 0.12 xG before the break. Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Jarrod Bowen offered flashes, but the Hammers lacked the incision to punish Liverpool’s territorial dominance.

After half-time, the visitors stepped up the tempo. Liverpool’s structure tightened, their press sharpened, and their confidence swelled. The breakthrough arrived right on the hour mark and it was one that felt inevitable.

Cody Gakpo, lively throughout, worked a neat move with Gomez and Wirtz down the left before dragging a perfect cross back into the area. Alexander Isak met it with superb timing, squeezing a side-footed finish into the bottom corner. It was his first Premier League goal for Liverpool and a moment that lifted both the striker and his teammates.

West Ham responded with brief spells of pressure, Paqueta drifting between lines and teeing up Fullkrug for a header that skimmed wide. But in the 84th minute, the hosts imploded. Paqueta moments after being booked for dissent continued to berate referee Darren England and was immediately shown a second yellow. A needless dismissal, and one that cost West Ham any chance of fighting their way back into the match.

With the Hammers reduced to 10 men, Liverpool pounced. Deep into stoppage time, Alisson sparked a blistering counter-attack by releasing Robertson down the flank. Gakpo’s cutback fell to Szoboszlai, who recycled the ball to Gomez on the right. His clipped cross found Gakpo, who controlled beautifully on his chest before smashing home Liverpool’s clincher for 2–0.

It was no less than Liverpool’s 1.26 xG deserved, and a win that pulls them up to eighth — level on points with Manchester United — as Slot looks to steady the ship after a nightmare month. West Ham, meanwhile, slip back into danger, stuck in 17th and only above Leeds on goal difference.

For Liverpool, this was a small but vital step in the right direction. For West Ham, it was a harsh reminder of how fine the margins can be — and how damaging a moment of ill-discipline can become.