James Milner’s block saved Liverpool tonight as they beat West Ham United 1-0 at Anfield. David Moyes couldn’t believe it.
Darwin Nunez found the winner for Liverpool at Anfield tonight but he wasn’t the only player with a match-winning contribution. Alisson Becker saved a Jarrod Bowen penalty to keep things level, while James Milner effectively sealed the points late on.
Said Benrahma got in behind Trent Alexander-Arnold to create havoc. Neither Joe Gomez nor Jordan Henderson could get the ball clear as Jarrod Bowen tried to get a shot off. The ball rebounded to the middle of the goal where Tomas Soucek waited to finish.
Only Milner wouldn’t allow for it. With 86 minutes gone, the vice-captain slid in out of nowhere to block the shot out for a corner. As the Reds went on to win 1-0, it was a match-winning block.
David Moyes couldn’t believe what he was seeing and dropped to his knees as the ball went wide. “How did we miss that?!,” he appeared to say.
James Milner’s block
It was an incredible piece of defensive play by Milner, right when Liverpool needed it. In truth, the Reds were unbelievably nervy towards the end of the game after missing several decent chances to put West Ham away.
It felt as though a goal was coming for the visitors and really, this should have been it. This was their chance. Milner made sure he had a say, though, and thank God he did.
The veteran midfielder was excellent after coming on, too. He consistently got forward, ran the ball into the corner and swept up after presses. It was a wonderful way to follow on from his display against Manchester City at the weekend.
Liverpool do still rely on Milner and certainly did here. He played a massive role in the clean sheet and the three points.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
