Liverpool prove their determination by edging West Ham (ESPN article)

by Dave Usher for ESPN

Liverpool’s hard-fought 2-1 win at West Ham was perhaps a lot more stressful for their supporters than it was for the players.

While Reds fans all over the globe were reduced to watching the closing minutes of the game through fingers suddenly missing nails, defensively Liverpool’s players actually looked in complete control of what they were doing and rarely allowed West Ham a clear sight of goal all day.

Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet did not have a single save to make as Liverpool defended stoutly and with confidence.

Mamadou Sakho came into the side for the injured Daniel Agger and will gain some well-deserved praise after a flawless display alongside the equally impressive Martin Skrtel. They withstood the expected aerial bombardment and restricted the Hammers to one solitary effort on target, when Andy Carroll first punched Mignolet in the head before yanking the Belgian’s arm free of the ball he’d plucked out of the air, allowing Guy Demel to tap into the empty net.

The assistant flagged furiously and it appeared the goal would correctly be ruled out, but for reasons known only to himself, referee Anthony Taylor -- who had no view of the incident -- decided to overrule his colleague, much to the fury of Liverpool’s players.

That gave the home side an undeserved lifeline on the stroke of half-time and cancelled out Steven Gerrard’s earlier penalty. Unlike the spot kick that would eventually win it for the Reds, there was certainly no debate as to the validity of that one. It came from one of the few moments of genuine quality in a tense, nervy first half in which Liverpool never really clicked into gear.

Gerrard’s sublime pass found Luis Suarez and put James Tomkins in the position no centre back wants to be in: isolated one-on-one against the tricky Uruguayan in the penalty area. Suarez did what Suarez does, and just like Rafael three weeks ago, Tomkins was powerless to stop him and handled the ball to concede the clearest of penalty kicks, converted by the nerveless Gerrard.

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