Liverpool 3 - 0 West Ham

Liverpool's first-half barrage secured an easy win over a West Ham side that looked worryingly weak at Anfield.
Former Hammer Glen Johnson cracked a low shot past over-worked Robert Green to give the hosts an 18th-minute lead.
Dirk Kuyt then coolly slotted home a penalty after lively Fernando Torres had caused Danny Gabbidon to handle.
Maxi Rodriquez nodded in a simple third before half time, while bottom-of-the-table West Ham created nothing in a largely stale second period.
Now with just one win in 14 Premier League matches this season, Avram Grant's Hammers were desperate for something positive from their trip to the north-west - a performance if not a tangible result - to convince supporters that their team is not destined for relegation.
But, at a ground where the club has not won since 1963, the Irons put in a poor show - one which could increase pressure on Grant just days after his board backed him to steer them clear of trouble.
The visitors - who have not won a league match on the road since the opening day of last season - were almost completely compliant, offering little resistance to a club equally in need of some cheer.
And Roy Hodgson's determined team got it, despite the absence of injured captain Steven Gerrard, as they played with intent and energy to claim a fifth win in seven matches.
Impressive French youngster David Ngog forced a good early stop from Green after jinking his way into space before Raul Meireles, who appears to be winning over the Kop faithful, just failed to release Torres.
In the 10th minute, the Spaniard got his first chance after Ngog had danced across a line of dallying defenders.
But the World Cup winner smashed a low shot just wide of the post as the hosts set about dominating possession with almost embarrassing ease.
Radoslav Kovac did make a superb block with Torres ready to pounce again, before Meireles's stinging shot was tipped over by Green.
But the barriers inevitably burst, and it was England right-back Johnson who made the breakthrough.
Competing for the ball under more pressure from his team-mates than the opposition, he managed to chest a Meireles corner into space before zipping a low drive firmly past Green with consummate technique.
Johnson then did his defensive duties with a clearing header from a Kovac cross with Obinna lurking, but Liverpool continued to flood forward.
Torres - full of inventive running but still not yet hitting peak form - escaped easily down the wings time after time, but failed to find well-positioned team-mates in the box.
And - when Johnson chipped a cross to the back post - the former Atletico Madrid forward could only scuff a volley into the ground.
But Torres won the 27th-minute penalty, chipping the ball over Matthew Upson's foot onto Gabbidon's hand to leave the linesman flagging furiously for a spot kick.
Dutchman Kuyt finished down the middle as Green dived too early.
Full of frustration, West Ham's travelling support even began chanting the name of former player Paulo Di Canio as Lars Jacobson frantically cleared off the line following a desperate scramble in the box.
A decent chance did fall to Carlton Cole soon after, though the occasional England striker could not convert Luis Boa Morte's cross despite climbing high above the hosts captain Jamie Carragher to make a clean connection.
Yet that was a rare opening for a side seeming to lack any inspiration, and Liverpool added a crushing third soon after.
From a narrow angle, rampant Torres forced a smart save from the feet of Green but former Hammer Paul Konchesky steered a cross straight back into the box and Maxi angled a simple header across the visiting goalkeeper.
Grant did make a change at the break, bringing Victor Obinna off for Pablo Barrera, and changed his formation from 4-5-1 to 4-4-2.
But tactics seemed to have little relevance for the ambition-free Hammers as they failed to make any impression on the second 45 minutes, bar keeping a clean sheet and keeping the score respectable.
That tiny chink of consolation was threatened in the 67th minute, when Maxi burst forward into the box and almost lifted an inadvertent chip into the top corner of Green's goal from the left.
But the ball drifted just past the post before going out.
Green then made a stunning double stop when, firstly, he pushed Torres' powerful 20-yard shot onto the bar before tipping Christian Poulsen's equally impressive effort around the post.
The rest of the action resembled a testimonial match as Liverpool closed out a win which will put each club in contrasting moods.

Liverpool 3 - 0 West Ham

Liverpool moved back into sixth place after an emphatic win over West Ham, who remain one place above the relegation zone.
Yossi Benayoun put them ahead in unusual fashion, diverting a Steven Gerrard cross in off his stomach.
David Ngog added a second with a fiercely struck snap shot from a Maxi Rodriguez cross as the Reds dominated.
After the break a Sotiros Kyrgiakos header came back off a post and in off the leg of Hammers keeper Robert Green.
It was a wretched display from West Ham, who have not won at Anfield for 47 years and may not have the chance to play there next season if their fortunes do not improve, having succumbed to their seventh defeat in the last nine games.
They now face a critical home fixture with Wigan on Saturday mindful of awkward closing games away to Fulham and home to Champions League-chasing Manchester City.
Liverpool, who plan to set off for Thursday's Europa League semi-final first leg at Atletico Madrid on Tuesday lunchtime because of the volcanic ash saga, are now a point clear of Aston Villa having played a game more.
They have a home match with Chelsea either side of winnable away trips to Burnley and Hull.
With both sides having plenty to play for the opening exchanges were remarkably tame, anguished cries from the players were often audible on the rare occasions when West Ham's vociferous 1,500 travelling contingent were not making themselves heard.
Benayoun teed up an early chance for Rodriguez but his shot was easily saved by Green.
The Hammers enjoyed some comfortable early possession in midfield but posed little direct threat and the kind of cunning invention typified by their manager Gianfranco Zola as a player.
Benayoun ghosted between the defenders and was completely free on the edge of the six-yard box as Gerrard's free-kick from the right-hand touchline bounced just in front of him.
The industrious Israeli diverted the ball in off the post with his stomach, carefully keeping his hands out of the way, despite appeals to the contrary from West Ham defenders.
More atrocious defending from the visitors gave Liverpool another golden opportunity, but from inside the six-yard box Kyrgiakos somehow headed a right-wing Gerrard corner into the ground and the ball bounced over.
It did not prove at all critical as with the move of the match Liverpool doubled their lead shortly before the half-hour.
Benayoun's quick pass found Rodriguez on the right and his first time cross was met instantly on the half-volley by Ngog, whose shot was too fierce for Green to keep out, even though the England goalkeeper got a hand to the ball.
The remainder of the match was merely a procession for Liverpool, who might conceivably have had three penalties - two for handball and one for a foul on Ngog.
West Ham, badly missing the purpose of the suspended Scott Parker, introduced Guillermo Franco at half-time but Liverpool extended their advantage as another teasing Gerrard free-kick, this time from the left, caused more distress in the visiting defence.
Kyrgiakos met the ball from close range and West Ham's misfortune was summed up when it rebounded off a post on to the back of Green's leg and into the net.
Liverpool could even afford to take off Gerrard, Benayoun and Ngog to allow them a rest ahead of Thursday, while West Ham suffered even greater misery when Carlton Cole went off with a knee injury.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez:
"We have to keep doing our job. It will be more difficult now [to qualify for the Champions League because Tottenham won [against Chelsea], normally you would not expect them to win.
"But we have to be in a good position if they make a mistake.
"West Ham started the game pushing but as soon as we scored the first goal it was easier, we had more chances and we scored the second goal and the third one killed the game."
West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola:
"We started well. We were quite comfortable on the pitch. We suffered on dead balls - normally we are very good defending against them but not today.
"The first goal was a killer, I felt we were on top of the game.
"The second was a distraction, that was a killer. After 2-0 it was difficult for us.
"In the second half we tried to have a go and press them hard but they scored on a dead ball."

Liverpool 4-0 West Ham

Fernando Torres scored a hat-trick as Liverpool won their game in hand to move above Everton and into fourth place in the Premier League.
Torres superbly finished Dirk Kuyt's low cross from 12 yards and struck after the break with a header following another cross from the Dutchman.
The Spain striker hit the post with a diving header before netting his third with a low finish from a tight angle.
Steven Gerrard scored the fourth with a spectacular long-range effort.
It was a crucial win for the home team in the context of the scramble for fourth spot - and with it a place in next season's Champions League.
Until they scored the decisive second goal it was a far from scintillating performance by Liverpool, who at times lacked urgency and were wasteful from set pieces.
But West Ham, defeated 4-0 by Chelsea on Saturday, rarely looked as though they would force their way back into the contest after Torres struck early on.
By the time Alan Curbishley introduced Dean Ashton and Bobby Zamora after 69 minutes the game had gone - and it was the home team who added to their tally with two late goals.
Liverpool started with a real sense of purpose and should have scored even before Torres' eighth-minute opener.
John Arne Riise, recalled to the team, crossed from the left and Kuyt headed the ball back across goal to Torres, who missed the target from six yards.
The Spaniard soon made amends with his 16th goal in the Premier League.
Torres got across Anton Ferdinand and showed superb technique to drill home Kuyt's low cross from the right.
The goal marked the end of Liverpool's early dominance, with West Ham gradually feeling their way into the contest.
Pepe Reina charged from his goal after the ball was slipped through to Luis Boa Morte and the West Ham striker eased past the Liverpool keeper before shooting from a tight angle.
The ball seemed to be heading goalwards before a superb sliding effort from Alvaro Arbeloa diverted it out for a corner.
The game went through a dour, chanceless phase, before Liverpool pushed for a second goal in the period before half-time.
Martin Skrtel narrowly missed with a header at the near post while Gerrard toe-poked a cross from Ryan Babel towards the bottom corner of the West Ham goal that produced an excellent low save from Robert Green.
Liverpool forced the first good effort of the second half, with a superb disguised pass from Gerrard creating an opening for Babel, who forced a decent save from Green.
But it was mediocre fare, with errant passes and niggling fouls upsetting the flow of the game.
Torres brought the contest back to life with his precise header into the top corner, but in truth the West Ham marking was dreadful and the striker was under no pressure as he extended his team's lead.
And having established a two-goal cushion, Liverpool took complete control.
Torres met a superb cross from Gerrard with a diving header that rebounded off the woodwork.
But he completed his third hat-trick for Liverpool after easily skipping past Lucas Neill and passing the ball into the net.
Gerrard finished the scoring with his spectacular strike after the Hammers defence backed off and allowed him to run at goal.
· Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez: "At the end I was really pleased with the performance of the team.
"Torres is on fire and that is good for him and fantastic for the team.
"We now have a really important game game against Newcastle and we have to make sure we get three points."
· West Ham boss Alan Curbishley (whose team lost 4-1 to Chelsea on Saturday): "We made no impression on Liverpool at all.
"It's the second time in four days we've played a top side and we knew it would be a tough game but we did not expect this. We have let ourselves down."
Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Skrtel, Carragher, Riise, Gerrard, Mascherano, Alonso, Babel (Pennant 76), Kuyt (Benayoun 63), Torres (Crouch 82). Subs Not Used: Itandje, Hyypia.
Goals: Torres 8, 61, 81, Gerrard 83.
West Ham: Green, Neill, Ferdinand, Upson (Spector 63), McCartney, Solano (Ashton 69), Noble, Mullins, Ljungberg, Boa Morte, Cole (Zamora 69). Subs Not Used: Wright, Pantsil.
Booked: Cole, Neill, Noble.
Att: 42,954
Ref: Steve Bennett (Kent).