21 December 2023 , 05:00
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So much for Dominik Szoboszlai struggling at Liverpool.
The great and good of Liverpool from Phil Thompson to Jamie Carragher and Graeme Souness to John Aldridge berated him for his performance in the goalless draw against Manchester United on Sunday. It was yet another poor display from the Reds midfielder and Aldridge even said Szoboszlai was having a “torrid time”.
Szoboszlai answered them in the only way he knows how as he scored another screamer to book Liverpool’s place in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup for a record 19th time. The Hungary skipper fired home from 25 yards out and his showreel finish put Liverpool on their way to an eighth successive home win over West Ham.
David Moyes left Anfield disappointed yet again and he has failed to win in 21 visits as a manager. The West Ham boss can’t complain and his side barely laid a glove on Liverpool, who rediscovered their goalscoring groove after their failure on Sunday.
There was an intensity and energy to Liverpool’s play and their finishing, which let them down against United, was back. This was the complete performance from Liverpool and they were ruthless in the way they dispatched West Ham, who beat Arsenal on their way to the quarter-finals.
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Apart from Jarrod Bowen’s fine effort, it was all Liverpool and this was as good a 90-minute display as Anfield has witnessed in a long time. There were highlights all over the pitch for Jurgen Klopp to savour from Szoboszlai’s goal to Curtis Jones’ double and, of course, Mohamed Salah’s 15th goal of the season.
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Dominik Szoboszlai netted a sensational strike to send Liverpool on their way (Paul Currie/REX/Shutterstock)Harvey Elliott has started all three games in the Carabao Cup and he twice went close as Liverpool laid siege to the West Ham goal. Darwin Nunez then headed wide before Szoboszlai dragged a shot past the post and Liverpool were doing everything but score.
Just as it was beginning to look a bit like Sunday again, complete with the opposition wearing all white, for Liverpool, Szoboszlai broke the deadlock with a stunning strike on 28 minutes. It is up there with his screamer against Leicester and he gave West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola no chance as he arrowed his right-foot shot into the far bottom corner from 25 yards out.
Jarell Quansah did well to win possession and feed Szoboszlai for an assist and the 20-year-old defender is blossoming nicely. Some Liverpool fans still were not happy and Klopp exchanged words with one of them behind him when another Reds attack fizzled out.
Liverpool should have had a second and Cody Gakpo was left holding his head in his hands when he nodded wide from Elliott’s inviting cross. Their second came on 56 minutes when Jones escaped down the left and threaded the ball through Areola’s legs from a tight angle.
Gakpo made it 3-0 on 71 minutes when he shot home from the edge of the area past Areola. Bowen offered fleeting resistance when he scored a fine goal for West Ham on 77 minutes, but it was only a consolation effort.
The Reds juggernaut came storming back and after Salah missed an open goal after Areola touched Nunez’s effort on to the post, the Egyptian king made no mistake to score Liverpool’s fourth on 82 minutes.
Jones then slalomed through what remained of West Ham’s shell-shocked defence to make it 5-1 two minutes later and complete a fine night’s work for Liverpool.