Darwin Nunez delights as Liverpool defeat West Ham 3-1 to go second in the Premier League

LONDON – Jurgen Klopp hailed the “massive steps” Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez has taken recently, after he netted a brilliant goal as his side romped to a 3-1 Premier League win over a dogged West Ham United side, deftly steering home a volley on the hour mark.

The visitors got off to a flying start at Anfield on Sunday, when Tomas Soucek forced a brilliant save from Alisson Becker with a downward header in the seventh minute, and two minutes later Michail Antonio headed a Soucek cross wide with the goal at his mercy.

But the Hammers were left to rue those early misses when Mohamed Salah was felled by Nayef Aguerd in the 15th minute for a stonewall penalty, and the Egyptian attacker stepped up to smash home the resulting spot kick to give Liverpool the lead.

That kick-started the home side, but West Ham still managed to level before the break when Jarrod Bowen dived at the feet of Virgil van Dijk to score with a superb low header for his fourth goal of the season.

The goal was eerily similar to the James Ward-Prowse goal that put them ahead against Manchester City a week ago, but once again it wasn’t enough to get them anything from the game.

After squandering a number of decent chances, Nunez finally got on the scoresheet after latching on to a beautiful lofted pass from Alexis Mac Allister, much to the delight of the Anfield crowd.

Said Klopp of his Uruguay forward: “Massive steps in last few weeks. He’s a threat. He was always available for us. Takes it on his chest and we play from there.

“Defensive work is probably the main difference. It looks much better. Curtis (Jones) and Dom (Dominik Szoboszlai) help a lot.”

That goal took the wind out of the Hammers’ sails and substitute Diogo Jota was able to hook home a third goal from van Dijk’s knockdown in the 85th minute, four minutes after coming off the bench.

The win leaves Liverpool in second spot on the table on 16 points, two behind leaders Manchester City, while West Ham are seventh on 10 points.

After going behind in several early-season games, Liverpool looked much more like their old selves in Sunday’s win.

“We are working really hard and everyone can see we have improved a lot since the beginning and this is the way, and we will have to keep working,” said Mac Allister.

“(It was a) very tough game. We know them, we know how they play and we knew that they were going to try and defend a lot and try to counter-attack. We prepared really well for the game and thank goodness we won it,” he added.

One point behind Liverpool in third are Brighton & Hove Albion, who came from a goal down to beat Bournemouth 3-1 on Sunday. REUTERS