Liverpool, England ¨C Liverpool did not make things easy in its 2-1 win over West Ham United, but the players showed exceptional mentality to bounce back from a late equalizer to seal the three points, manager Arne Slot said as the Reds inched closer to the Premier League title.
After Luis Diaz opened the scoring, West Ham grew into the game and grabbed an equalizer in the 86th minute from an Andy Robertson own goal before Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk powered home a header three minutes later.
With a 13-point lead over second-place Arsenal, Liverpool needs just two wins from its final six games to win its second Premier League title and its first trophy under Slot after losing the League Cup final last month.
¡°That is what we¡¯ve done the whole season,¡± Slot told Sky Sports. ¡°After the disappointment of being knocked out by PSG (in the Champions League), we show up again, show up every three days, with this mentality.
¡°We don¡¯t win games the easy way. The easy way is taking control of the ball, pass it around five times and we have a goal and the next goal and the next goal.
¡°If we achieve something this year, it¡¯s mainly to do with the mentality the players have shown. That¡¯s what you saw today as well.¡±
Liverpool has lost only two league games this season, with its second defeat coming last weekend at Fulham.
Slot said he was worried it would drop points again when West Ham grew into the game in the second half and hailed goalkeeper Alisson for keeping Liverpool in the contest with some crucial saves.
¡°Very difficult second half, we needed Alisson because (Lucas) Paqueta and (Mohammed) Kudus were incredible the whole game,¡± Slot said.
¡°Then we conceded ... with an own goal. How much more disappointment can you get after what happened last week? Getting the goal with Virgil shows you how much mentality these boys have.
¡°It¡¯s not only us. I saw the result when I came in, Chelsea v Ipswich, 2-2. There¡¯s no one who wins a game of football that easily because this league is so strong now. You have to put so much effort to bring your wins over the line.¡±
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