Liverpool cruised to the Carabao Cup semi-finals with a 5-1 thrashing of West Ham United at Anfield on Wednesday night.
Carabao Cup
Result: Liverpool 5-1 West Ham United
Date: 20 December 2023
Venue: Anfield
Reds manager Jurgen Klopp had one eye on the weekend's clash with Arsenal after making six changes, as Virgil van Dijk maintained his starting berth while Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander Arnold dropped to the bench.
The home side dominated in the early stages of the encounter, with Harvey Elliot going close to opening the scoring with a powerful effort from distance that sailed just wide after 14 minutes.
Klopp's men did get the breakthrough in fine style on 28 minutes when Dominik Szoboszlai collected a pass from Jarell Quansah before finding the back of the net with a wonderful strike from distance.
The Hammers, meanwhile, barely posed a threat in the opening 45 minutes despite seeing more of the ball in the latter stages, as Liverpool Caoimhin Kelleher did not have a single save to make.
However, Liverpool doubled their lead ten minutes after the halftime break as Curtis Jones latched onto a pass from Darwin Nunez before finishing through the legs of Alphonse Areola from a tight angle.
Despite taking a two-goal lead, Klopp opted to introduce Salah, Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konate for the final 30 minutes of the second half as they went in search of more goals.
That's exactly what happened as the third goal arrived in the 70th minute as Konate won possession and played to Cody Gakpo, who cut inside and fired home a low strike from the edge of the box.
The Hammers did manage to pull one back seven minutes later as Jarrod Bowen latched onto a ball over the top before skipping past Quansah and volleying beyond Kelleher.
However, Liverpool ended any hopes of a West Ham comeback when Salah raced clear after a through-ball from Alexander-Arnold and calmly slotted into the bottom corner to send the hosts to their 19th League Cup semi-final.
There was enough time for the Reds to add a fifth goal with six minutes left on the clock as Jones surged towards the box before firing into the far corner to complete his brace on the night.
You must be SIGNED IN to read and post comments.
