Liverpool put five past West Ham to book EFL Cup semifinal spot | OneFootball

Liverpool thumped a sluggish West Ham to earn an 19th all-time EFL Cup semifinal berth.

Scorers: Szoboszlai 28′, Jones 56′, Gakpo 70′, Salah 82′, Jones 85′ ; Bowen 77′

West Ham have looked more open than we may be accustomed to in the opening few minutes, pressing Liverpool deep in their half to try and win the ball back.

But the Reds’ playing out from the back looked solid in the face of the pressure in the early going.

Harvey Elliot came close to setting Anfield alight in the opening 10 minutes, cutting through the Hammers’ defence before firing a long range effort just past the post.

The deadlock was finally broken as Dominik Szoboszlai did his best Steven Gerrard impression by firing a long-range shot into the bottom corner of the goal.

West Ham went into a shell after the break, appearing to reinvent their plan after a poor opening 45 minutes.

It did little to stem the tide however, as a superb Liverpool move was capped off by a Curtis Jones strike from an acute angle, giving the hosts some breathing room.

West Ham appeared to lose all hope after Jones’ strike, and the tie was all but put to bed in the final 20 minutes, as Cody Gakpo unleashed a pinpoint shot into the bottom corner to extend the Liverpool lead.

Jarrod Bowen pulled one back for West Ham on the break, but it appeared to be merely a consolation goal for the visitors in the final 15 minutes.

Any West Ham fight-back was killed off my Mo Salah, who fired home from close-range to reestablish Liverpool’s three-goal advantage.

Only moments later, Curtis Jones appeared to walk right through the West Ham defence before firing home the hosts’ fifth of the night.