Liverpool had Alisson Becker to thank once again as they defeated West Ham 1-0 at Anfield on Wednesday night.
After registering the assist for Mo Salah’s winner against Manchester City on Sunday, the Brazilian shot-stopper ensured the Reds picked up their second clean sheet in as many games with a superb penalty save from Jarrod Bowen.
Darwin Nunez earned the plaudits for scoring the winner with what was his first Anfield strike for his new club, but the former AS Roma ‘keeper played another vital role for Jurgen Klopp’s side who now sits seventh in the Premier League table.
“I’m really happy because we work so hard every day to come here and perform,” our No. 1 said (as quoted by Liverpool Offside). “Sometimes things don’t happen just as we want but I think in the last few games it’s working out.
“Since the beginning of the season we have big goals to fight for every competition that we are in. We started well with the Community Shield against Man City. It gave us a little bit of confidence but we didn’t use that for the Premier League and then we lost confidence.
“We lost players from injuries, and this is something that affected the team, the rhythm, players coming back from a long time not playing. All the circumstances around affected us a little bit. On the pitch as well, performances weren’t so bad but they weren’t enough.”
Our second-half showing against the Hammers wasn’t ideal, but when you consider that we’d just earned a huge three points against City at the weekend and now prepare for the trip to Nottingham Forest on Saturday, the result against David Moyes’ side was always going to be more important than the performance.
Liverpool are now just four points behind Chelsea who occupy the final Champions League spot and Alisson was keen to explain that although his side may have somewhat turned a corner recently, there is still a long way to go this season.
“We just stick together,” he added. “It was something that we were speaking about a lot, to stick together at this difficult time.
“Working hard, working every day, not only on matchdays. Now things are coming out, the results are coming, but we don’t have to be too excited about that. We have to keep our feet on the ground and just stick together, keep on working. It’s a long season for everybody.”
There’s no doubt that the 30-year-old is one of, if not, the best goalkeeper in the world – he doesn’t just prevent goals, he creates them and scores them too!
He’s adored by all Reds fans and it’s clear that he’s very much at home on Merseyside.
Let’s hope he can keep his superb form going to ensure we’re as successful as possible this season.