Liverpool routs West Ham 5-1 and advances to the League Cup semifinals

After finishing last season emptyhanded Liverpool kept its fourpronged trophy pursuit alive by advancing to the League Cup semifinals with a 51 win over West HamCurtis Jones scored twice with Dominik Szoboszlai Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah also getting goals in the largely onesided game at Anfield Jarrod Bowen struck a consolation goal for West HamAlso Read New Zealands rising star Rachin Ravindra finds it strange after seeing his name in IPL auctionLiverpool will play Fulham in the twolegged semifinals and seconddivision Middlesbrough will face Chelsea The performance the scoresheet the result and the individual performances put together to make a team on the pitch Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said on WednesdayWe were brave in our positioning our second ball game was exceptional It was a good performance from start to finishAlso ReadIN PHOTOS IND vs SA 3rd ODI Heres all you need to knowLiverpool can move atop the Premier League when it hosts firstplace Arsenal on Saturday is in the Europa League round of 16 and starts its FA Cup campaign next monthThe Merseyside clubs form this term is in stark contrast to last season when its inconsistency saw it miss out on qualification to the Champions League and fail to win a trophyNow it looks set to mount a serious challenge for the title and is one round away from advancing to its first cup final of the campaignHaving been held to a 00 draw by Manchester United on Sunday the goals came flooding back for Klopps team against West HamLiverpool dominated the first half and took the lead through Szoboszlai in the 28th The home teams pressing paid off as West Ham struggled to get out of its half and Szoboszlais rightfooted shot from about 25 yards meters powered into the bottom cornerLiverpool could have scored a second later in the half but Gakpos header from inside the box bounced just past the postAfter the break Darwin Nunez forced a save from Alphonse Areola with a shot that was headed for the top corner and Jones doubled the score in the 56thNunezs clever pass split West Hams defense and put Jones in position to fire through the goalkeepers legs from a tight angle on the leftGakpo made it 30 in the 71st with a low shot from the edge of the area that nestled into the bottom cornerSix minutes later Bowen pulled a goal back for West Ham when he turned Jarell Quansah in the box and curled a rightfooted shot past Caoimhin KelleherLiverpool should have restored its threegoal advantage when Nunezs shot hit the post and rebounded into the path of substitute Salah But the Egypt international fired wide from right in front of goal with Areola on the groundHe made no mistake in the 82nd converting when he went oneonone with the West Ham keeperJones then got his second and Liverpools fifth in the 84th with a run into the box and a decisive finishThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever