Match reportLiverpool hit five against Hammers to start Carabao Cup defence

The holders had to recover from a Jarell Quansah own goal to ensure their defence of the trophy moved past the first obstacle but ultimately did so dominantly, with Diogo Jota swiftly equalising.

Jota put the Reds ahead on the night four minutes into the second half, Mohamed Salah later rose from the bench to make it three, and Cody Gakpo glossed the score further with a double in the closing moments.

Team news

Federico Chiesa made his first start for the Reds as Arne Slot opted for nine changes to the XI that had begun the preceding victory over AFC Bournemouth.

Liverpool: Kelleher, Gomez, Endo (Morton, 81), Nunez, Chiesa (Salah, 59), Jones, Gakpo, Jota (Mac Allister, 59), Tsimikas (Robertson, 81), Quansah, Bradley.

Unused subs: Jaros, Van Dijk, Diaz, Szoboszlai, Alexander-Arnold.

First half

There was little action of consequence at either end during the opening 15 minutes, with a Jean-Clair Todibo header wide from a set-piece and a Jarrod Bowen punt into Caoimhin Kelleher’s grasp the attempts of any note.

The ball was in the net in minute 18 as Danny Ings tucked home at the Kop end after a deflection ran kindly to him – but the offside flag was immediately raised against the former Reds striker.

West Ham’s spell of pressure paid dividends soon after, with Quansah the unfortunate man to concede an own goal from close range.

The visitors’ corner kick from the left was nodded down dangerously inside the box and as Edson Alvarez tried to turn and convert, he was crowded out. But an eventual Wataru Endo attempted clearance struck Quansah and crossed the line.

Liverpool’s response was near-immediate and brought a first goal involvement for Chiesa.

A slick exchange of passes on the left-hand side sent Gakpo away and he measured a cross into the area from the flank. Chiesa met the ball with an acrobatic effort that bounced down into the ground and up, with Jota reacting fastest to rise and flick past Lukasz Fabianski.

Slot’s team enjoyed the upper hand in the aftermath of their equaliser and Gakpo was very close to edging them ahead with a lash across goal that took a deflection and swirled the wrong side of the far post.

The half drew to a close similarly to how it had started, however, with neither side looking likely to strike again before the interval.

Second half

But it was not long before the home supporters were able to rise to their feet again and acclaim a second Jota goal of the evening.

Curtis Jones was in large part its architect, leading a Liverpool attack from deep in his own half, trading passes with Gakpo and sliding a neat ball through to the Reds’ No.20 in the area, who planted a customarily assured first-time finish around Fabianski.

Salah and Alexis Mac Allister entered the action just prior to the hour mark, with Chiesa a departee with almost 60 minutes more in the tank as he builds up fitness.

Fabianski produced a good reaction save to thwart Jones’ low touch goalwards having been sent in behind by a lovely Mac Allister thread, and Kelleher got strong hands on a drive from Carlos Soler at the other end.

There was relief for the Reds immediately after. Kelleher once more had his angles right to repel a Michail Antonio blast and though the rebound landed to Max Kilman, he stumbled over it before getting a shot away.

West Ham appeals for a Kostas Tsimikas handball – and therefore a penalty – were rejected just before Liverpool established a clear advantage.

Fabianski pushed out Mac Allister’s strike when the Argentinian arrived to meet Conor Bradley’s clever cutback to the middle of the area, but Salah was on hand to hammer the loose ball into the roof of the net.

Alvarez was soon dismissed for a second yellow card that resulted from a lunge on Salah as he scampered away, while only a stunning fingertip from Fabianski stopped Mac Allister’s whack from range finding the top corner – the hit instead clattering the left post.

But the Reds were to score twice more, both from Gakpo in the last minutes. The No.18 dispatched an accurate finish into the bottom left corner and followed up with the benefit of a deflection to wrap up another strong showing.

Attendance: 60,044