West Ham’s difficult season took another turn for the worse as Lucas Paquetá’s moment of madness condemned them to a 2-0 defeat against Liverpool. The Brazilian midfielder received two yellow cards for dissent in quick succession, reducing his team to ten men and effectively ending any hope of mounting a comeback at the London Stadium.
The dismissal was symptomatic of West Ham’s current malaise. Despite a slight upturn in form prior to this fixture, they remain a deeply ordinary side struggling to justify having the ninth-highest average attendance in world football last season. Their performance against a Liverpool team desperately lacking confidence highlighted just how far from competitiveness they currently are.
West Ham’s main threat came through goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, who produced several excellent saves to keep the scoreline respectable. He denied Alexander Isak with a spectacular starfish save after the Swedish striker produced a falling volley, and later stretched to keep out Florian Wirtz’s well-struck shot before halftime. Without their French goalkeeper’s heroics, the margin of defeat could have been significantly wider.
The hosts’ defensive frailties were exposed for Alexander Isak’s opening goal on the hour mark. A corner was only half-cleared, and West Ham failed to reorganize quickly enough as Liverpool worked the ball to Cody Gakpo. His cutback found Isak unmarked, and the striker made no mistake with a composed first-time finish. It was poor defending that a better team would have punished far earlier.
Manager’s tactical approach appeared overly cautious, particularly given Liverpool’s recent defensive vulnerability. West Ham rarely threatened to exploit their opponents’ fragility, instead sitting deep and inviting pressure. The strategy might have yielded something had Paquetá maintained discipline, but his reckless dissent left them with an impossible task. Gakpo’s late second goal merely confirmed what was already inevitable—another disappointing home defeat.