Diogo Jota struck a brace in Liverpool s comfortable 5-1 victory against 10-man West Ham as they got their Carabao Cup defence off to the perfect start.
The Portugal international lost his starting spot to Darwin Nunez for the 3-0 Premier League win over Bournemouth at the weekend, but the two were paired together on Wednesday night as head coach made nine changes.
Jota was deployed in the slightly deeper role but still showed his often erratic partner just how ruthless you must be as a striker, netting two effortlessly clinical goals.
Nunez, by contrast, struggled to find an opening but that was probably as much a result of Arne Slot’s team selection lacking a passer of genuine quality.
Federico Chiesa, on his first start since a summer move from Juventus, showed glimpses of promise in the hour he was afforded, with his mis-hit shot ballooning up off the turf for Jota to pop up in the right place to nod a close-range header past the challenge of goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski midway through the first half.
READ:
That cancelled out Jarell Quansah’s own goal from a poorly-defended West Ham corner, but his next strike proved the decisive one.
Four minutes after the interval Curtis Jones carried the ball out of defence, exchanged passes with Cody Gakpo and slid in a pass for Jota to dispatch with a first-time finish.
Jones improved as the game went on after he and Endo struggled to get a grip of midfield during the early stages and he almost grabbed a third when planted his toe-poke slightly too close to Fabianski.
Having got ahead Slot, whose only concession to youth in his squad was 21-year-old Tyler Morton, turned to the bench and brought on the upgrades of Mohamed Salah and Alexis Mac Allister for Chiesa and Jota.
It did not immediately improve things as the visitors, for whom former Reds striker Danny Ings had an 18th-minute goal ruled out for offside, had arguably their best spell with goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher denying Michael Antonio, Max Kilman and Aaron Cresswell.
They also had penalty claims waved away Vladimir Coufal’s cross hit Kostas Tsimikas in the stomach and then his arm.
