West Ham United 2 Liverpool 3

Last updated : 19 September 2009 By Footymad Previewer
Swashbuckling Spaniard, Fernando Torres, finally put West Ham United to the sword in this five-goal thriller at Upton Park.

The Liverpool striker struck twice as he opened the scoring midway through the first half and then netted a 75th-minute winner on an exhilarating East End evening that had also seen team-mate Dirk Kuyt bag a goal and Hammers debutant Alessandro Diamanti and Carlton Cole both equalise for Gianfranco Zola's side.

Despite having lost two of their opening three games, the recovering Reds had come into this contest boasting three straight wins and, following Wednesday's Champions League victory over Hungarian outfit Debrecen, Rafa Benitez made just one switch as ex-Hammer Javier Mascherano replaced substitute Albert Riera.

West Ham, on the other hand, had got their season off to a flying start with a win at Wolverhampton Wanderers but had failed to win any of their three subsequent Premier League matches.

And after last week's disappointing defeat at Wigan Athletic, Zola made three changes as £6million new-boy Diamanti, Valon Behrami and Herita Ilunga replaced Junior Stanislas plus substitutes Radoslav Kovac and Danny Gabbidon.

That meant 20-year-old Zavon Hines retained his place in a 4-5-1 home formation and, with just two minutes on the clock, he was only a goalpost away from giving West Ham the lead, when he robbed Jamie Carragher and rattled Pepe Reina's left-hand upright, before the relieved Reds keeper gratefully smothered the rebound.

At the other end, Steven Gerrard played in Upton Park old-boy Yossi Benayoun, who curled a low ten-yarder into Robert Green's midriff, while both Emiliano Insua and then Torres fired wide.

In a lively end-to-end opening, Liverpool were certainly looking the more threatening and, on 20 minutes, Insua won possession in midfield before playing in Torres, who expertly claimed his fourth goal of the season after holding off both James Tomkins and the sliding Matthew Upson before beating Green at the near post with a rising six-yarder.

As the rain clouds began to converge over the East End, this early evening encounter looked like unravelling yet further for Zola's men, as both Upson and then Behrami hobbled away in quick succession to be replaced by Gabbidon and Kovac.

With the half-hour mark approaching, though, the breaking Hines was bundled over on the byline by the consequently cautioned Carragher and, although he slipped in the act of shooting, Diamanti still managed to hook his spot-kick straight down the middle and over the diving Reina.

Liverpool's protests that the former Livorno striker had twice made contact with the ball fell on the deaf ears of referee Andre Marriner, who was also to book Scott Parker, Julien Faubert and Martin Skrtel before the end of a rip-roaring first half.

But as the opening period entered its final five minutes, there was still time for each keeper to pick the ball out of the net.

On 41 minutes, Benayoun's corner was powerfully headed towards the far post by the soaring Gerrard and the stretching Kuyt applied the vital toe-nail to prod the ball over the line and join Torres on the four-goal mark.

That was a Hammer blow for the home fans amongst the sold-out crowd of 34,658 but in first-half stoppage time, Mark Noble floated a corner of his own into the danger-zone, where Cole outjumped Torres, Skrtel and Carragher to deservedly nod West Ham level at the break.

It would have been impossible for the second period to match those intense first 45 minutes but to their credit both sides gave it a good go.

Mascherano became the third Merseysider to be booked for hacking the escaping Hines and then Diamanti whipped in a curling corner that Reina clawed out from under his own crossbar.

The exhausted Italian then left to a standing ovation as Kieron Dyer stepped from the bench, minutes after Benitez had introduced Ryan Babel for Kuyt in a bid to re-establish the Reds' footing.

The Dutchman's arrival was destined to have more impact and, with just 15 minutes remaining, the Liverpool substitute floated over the right-wing cross that saw that man Torres climb between Tomkins and Faubert to head the Merseysiders to a fantastic fourth-straight victory.