Liverpool 5-2 West Ham: Ekitike ignites Anfield
Anfield, 28 February 2026.
West Ham have rarely emerged from Anfield with all three points in recent decades, and by half time on Saturday that scarcity of success felt heavy on the visitors’ shoulders again. Liverpool, listed in their customary 4-3-3 under head coach Arne Slot, were three clear before the break. West Ham, matching the shape under Julen Lopetegui, needed something close to a miracle to rewrite the narrative.
Hugo Ekitike made sure no such miracle materialised. The French forward, a winter arrival still staking his claim, took just five minutes to convert Ryan Gravenberch’s through ball. His movement dragged the visiting back line across the pitch, a template for the chaos Liverpool would cause throughout the opening half.
Virgil van Dijk followed on 24 minutes, rising to meet Dominik Szoboszlai’s delivery and ensuring Liverpool’s set-piece threat remained a constant theme. Alexis Mac Allister added a third moments before the interval, capping a flowing exchange that began with Ekitike’s lay-off and underlined Liverpool’s ability to flood the half-spaces from midfield. Anfield has seen plenty of statement first halves against West Ham; this one ranks among the more ruthless.
Lopetegui sought to shift the rhythm by pushing Tomáš Souček higher after the restart, and within four minutes the Czech midfielder had reduced the deficit to two from Malick Diouf’s cutback. For a side marooned in 18th, it was brave and slightly reckless, yet it briefly asked Liverpool a question that has nagged them all season: could they manage a game once the adrenaline fades?
The response was emphatic. On 70 minutes Ekitike collected near the right channel and fed Cody Gakpo, who duly restored the three-goal cushion. Even when Valentín Castellanos pulled another back from Jarrod Bowen’s smart pass with a quarter hour left, there was no discernible panic. Jeremie Frimpong’s late cameo brought electricity down the right and forced the moment that killed the contest, his cross bundled into his own net by Axel Disasi after 82 minutes.
Key numbers:
- Liverpool 18 shots to West Ham’s 11, with 13 of those home efforts inside the box.
- Expected goals: Liverpool 1.73, West Ham 1.83, a reminder that Lopetegui’s side carved more danger than the score suggests.
- Ten Liverpool corners to five for West Ham, a measure of persistent territorial pressure.
If there was a contest inside the wider narrative, it belonged to Ekitike. A goal, two assists and the decisive dart that opened space for much of Liverpool’s best work: it was the sort of performance that indicated why Slot fought to recruit him in January. Van Dijk’s command beside Ibrahima Konaté kept West Ham’s aerial bombardment at bay, while Gravenberch provided the elasticity in midfield that allowed Mac Allister to roam. For West Ham, Souček’s energy and Mateus Fernandes’ distribution ensured the visitors never entirely went under. Yet individual resilience cannot mask the structural issues that have them conceding 54 league goals.
Liverpool sit fifth on 48 points, level with Manchester United but outside the Champions League slots only on goal difference. In the broader context of a tightening race behind Arsenal and Manchester City, Slot’s side must now produce similar vigour away from Anfield. West Ham, stuck on 25 points in the relegation zone, face a week of soul-searching before Everton’s visit; Lopetegui needs defensive clarity as much as attacking optimism.
