West Ham 1 Liverpool 2: Player ratings as Reds go top

West Ham

Adrian Harshly done by for the second penalty, but distributed well and make some flashy saves. 6/10

Guy Demel Was in the right place at the right time for the goal, taking the initiative after Carroll’s foul. Defended stoutly and strongly. 7

James Tomkins Handled the ball for the first penalty, but did excellently to contain Suarez and Sturridge. 6

Winston Reid Another rock in the West Ham defence, doing a job against the infamous Liverpool frontline. 6

Pablo Armero A fine first start for the Colombian. 5

Mark Noble The everpresent midfield man passed well and did his fair share of tracking back, but was outshone by Henderson and Gerrard. 5

Matthew Taylor Broke up the midfield dominance of the visitors. 5

Mohamed Diame Made some great bursts out of midfield, slaloming past Liverpool defenders, and stood up several decent crosses. Excellent. 6

Kevin Nolan Ran and ran and ran, and ran some more, but his attacking prowess was restricted. Removed to a standing ovation. 6

Stewart Downing Started off brightly by getting to the byline and winning a corner, but soon faded and ended the game at full-back. 5

Andy Carroll All the headlines were about Carroll’s return to face his former team and he certainly made a nuisance of himself. Got away with a ridiculous foul in first half stoppage time when he palmed Mignolet in the face and knocked the ball from his hands. Had a quieter second half but still managed to hit the bar with a massive header. 7

Substitutes

Matt Jarvis Replaced Taylor but it was far too late to change the outcome of the game. N/A

Antonio Nocerino Another player who couldn’t change the Hammers’ fortunes, and spent most of the time on the pitch being bypassed. 4

Carlton Cole Another late substitution as he replaced Diame. N/A

Liverpool

Simon Mignolet Rarely tested by West Ham and was unfortunate to have missed out on a clean sheet this afternoon. 5

Glen Johnson Had an interesting 90-minute tussle with Downing but still found time to bomb forward into advanced positions. 5

Martin Skrtel Battled with Carroll and shied away from nothing. 7

Mamadou Sakho Yet to make a flawless appearance in a Liverpool shirt, but has certainly improved since arriving at the club. Gave away some needless freekicks but was an important cog against the Carroll battering ram. 6

Jon Flanagan Fortunate to win the second penalty, but yet another promising performance from the youngster. 6

Philippe Coutinho Had better days, but his eye for a pass is second only to his captain. 5

Steven Gerrard If this is to be the season that he wins his first Premier League title then he’s going about it in the right way. Two perfectly-dispatched penalties topped off a brilliant performance from the middle of the park. 8

Jordan Henderson A terrier. Cleaned up and started attacks without getting too involved himself. 5

Raheem Sterling Blistering pace makes him a thorn in any defender’s side, but a distinct lack of final ball this afternoon meant Liverpool were a little more profligate in front of goal than in recent weeks. 6

Luis Suarez Not his finest performance, but the fact that he hit the bar twice with chipped attempts and was still criticised shows the kind of season he’s having. Selfish at times, but will come back stronger. 6

Daniel Sturridge An off-day for both of SAS, with Sturridge particularly missing. Made all the running with no final product. 6

Substitutes

Lucas Leiva Came on for Coutinho at the break and played the anchor role, allowing Gerrard the freedom to take the game by the scruff of the neck. Excellent tactical decision from Brendan Rodgers. 7

Kolo Toure A late replacement for the tiring Sturridge. N/A