Liverpool have closed the gap on leaders Manchester City to just three points with victory over West Ham United.
The Reds claimed a 1-0 success over the Hammers on Saturday evening thanks to a first-half goal from Sadio Mane.
Plenty of national media outlets, along with ourselves, were in attendance at Anfield to watch Jurgen Klopp's side make it seven Premier League wins on the spin.
And here is a round-up of what they had to say.
Jonathan Northcroft, via The Times
“Barely a supporter headed for an exit until the very last moments of stoppage time, barely an eye was taken off this compelling, breakneck, high-stakes game. This was proof you don’t need goals to grab the attention and grip its throat – a 1-0 that felt like a 3-3 in terms of spectacle and excitement.
“Jeopardy stemmed from Liverpool’s need to win it, to pressure Manchester City, and they did so, thanks to Sadio Mané’s finely constructed 27th-minute goal and this win’s importance to the title race was why Jürgen Klopp turned and ran back towards the Kop, clenching his fist, as the players went down the tunnel at the end.
“His team had been resilient, played some attacking football of high-speed and high-quality, and got the job done against very good opposition — as title-contending sides need to do. Mané stood out for more than just his goal, as did the livewire Luis Díaz, but maybe the best operators were in Liverpool’s midfield: Jordan Henderson and Naby Keïta, and Trent Alexander-Arnold — who spent more of the game in that area of the pitch than his starting berth of right-back."
Joe Bernstein, via the Mail Online
“For all Liverpool's traditional razzle-dazzle, it's nights like this that often determine whether a team can win championships.
“Make no mistake, Jurgen Klopp's men got away with one at Anfield. Alisson made five important saves, Trent Alexander-Arnold cleared off the line and Manuel Lanzini, who had scored in West Ham's last win at Anfield in 2015, missed from six yards.
“It meant Liverpool squeezed through on Sadio Mane's first-half goal. They haven't lost any of their 15 matches in 2022 across four competitions and are undefeated at home for 12 months.
“Leaders Manchester City are within three points again and the pleasing thing for Klopp is that his players have so many gears to go through. Mo Salah failed to score despite six goal attempts and trudged off a disconsolate figure."
READ MORE: David Moyes unhappy with Liverpool decision in West Ham defeat
TITLE RACE: Liverpool's next six games compared with Man City
Andy Hunter, via The Guardian
“It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t convincing and for Jürgen Klopp that really doesn’t matter. Liverpool made it 12 successive wins in all competitions with a slender victory over West Ham to keep the pressure firmly on Manchester City ahead of Sunday’s Manchester derby.
“Liverpool’s 600th Premier League win owed as much to West Ham’s profligacy as Sadio Mané’s predatory instincts, the Senegal international deciding the outcome with a sharp first-half finish before Pablo Fornals and Manuel Lanzini missed glorious chances to level. It is now 18 visits to Anfield without a win for David Moyes. His visible anguish as Lanzini skied over with only Alisson to beat was perfectly understandable.
“West Ham’s hopes of becoming the first team to record a Premier League double over Klopp’s Liverpool receded before kick-off with Declan Rice absent through illness. Moyes paired Lanzini alongside Tomas Soucek and, with his team immediately over-run by Liverpool’s speed of thought and movement, soon switched to a four-man midfield to stem the tide. The title contenders should have been ahead before the readjustment.”
Sam Wallace, via The Telegraph
“This will only be a decisive weekend in the Premier League title race if the Manchester derby yields the kind of result that puts Pep Guardiola’s champions within sight of Liverpool in second place, although on results alone they could scarcely have given more to this pursuit of the leaders.
“This was their 15th game in all competitions without defeat and their seventh straight Premier League victory that has taken them within three points of the leaders Manchester City, who face one of the major tests of their stickability at home to their local rivals at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. Win and City will restore a six-point advantage having played one game more than Liverpool, although anything less than that and it will feel as if, unexpectedly, there is real jeopardy in this title race.
“Jurgen Klopp’s team struck relatively early for the winning goal, a 14th-minute finish from Sadio Mane that was approved by VAR on a microscopic offside margin, and in the end that was enough. They had more chances to win the game and in their £37 million new signing Luis Diaz they had the evening's outstanding player, although it should be said that West Ham had their moments too.
“They certainly found spaces in this Liverpool defence, there was simply not the composure for the away team to punish them as they had done at the London Stadium.”
*RATE THE PLAYERS FOR THE WIN OVER WEST HAM:
Paul Gorst, via the Liverpool Echo
“The shaking of Jurgen Klopp's fist said it all at full-time. As did the reaction of the Kop. This was a massive three Premier League points for Liverpool at Anfield.
“Klopp knew it. The Kop knew it. And Manchester City, who entertain neighbours United on Sunday, will know it as well. The Reds aren't going away in this title race. Not just yet, anyway.
“This was as hard-fought a win as there has been all season at home as West Ham United battled until the last blast of Jonathan Moss' whistle on Saturday evening.
“Klopp, as he tends to, played to the gallery after the game, but it was his more subdued clenching of a fist before he reached the fans that revealed just how vital he viewed this 1-0 triumph as.”
