National media react as 'curious' Liverpool make Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta 'envious'

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How the national media reacted to Liverpool's 5-2 victory over West Ham United in the Premier League on Saturday afternoonThe top four edges nearer. Liverpool strengthened their claims for Champions League qualification when they notched a 5-2 win over West Ham United at Anfield on Saturday.Hugo Ekitike, Virgil van Dijk and Alexis Mac Allister all scored in the first half before Cody Gakpo and an Axel Disasi own goal ensured the Hammers remained at arm's length despite second-half goals from Tomas Soucek and Taty Castellanos.It made for an ultimately enjoyable afternoon.

And while the ECHO was in attendance and provided our usual level of coverage, here's how the national media viewed a positive result for Arne Slot's side.READ MORE: Liverpool winger ruled out for the season after devastating injury setbackREAD MORE: Hugo Ekitike explains Liverpool situation he is 'not happy' about - 'to be honest'Paul Joyce, formerly of this parish, writes in The Times about how Liverpool are echoing the one-time runaway Premier League leaders."It has taken far longer than Arne Slot would have hoped but, finally, he could point to a Liverpool performance that went some way to emulating Arsenal," he scribes."Having spent the first months of this campaign seemingly susceptible to every set piece that was launched into their penalty box, Slot’s side have suddenly become proficient themselves at dead-ball situations."Liverpool became only the second team in Premier League history to score three goals from corners in the first half of a match — Manchester United were the pioneers against Leicester City in September 2016 — and that laid the foundation to the customary victory over West Ham United. A small part of Mikel Arteta would be envious."Even allowing for a gaping half-time advantage, however, this was a curious game which proceeded to expose the imperfections of both teams."Another former ex-ECHO operative, Andy Hunter of The Guardian, pondered the respective strengths both on and off the field of the two combatants."In the week Liverpool announced record overall revenue of £703m in their latest accounts, most of it ploughed back into the bank balances of a title-winning team, West Ham warned that players will have to be sold this summer whether they stay up or not having suffered a £104.2m loss in the same financial year," he pens."Their prospects of avoiding relegation look bleak in the context of such a heavy defeat yet, strange as it seems, Nuno Espirito Santo could take encouragement from elements of West Ham’s display."The visitors had a better xG than Liverpool but found Alisson in fine form and the champions devastating at set pieces.

West Ham must have known it was not going to be their day when their bus got stuck on a ramp while attempting to leave the team hotel."Richard Jolly of the Independent was another to centre on the set-piece shift for Liverpool."This was the sort of scoreline Liverpool might have envisaged posting rather more often when they spent nine-figure sums on the attacking talents of Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz," he says."Except that, as they scored five times in a league game for the first time since clinching the title by demolishing Tottenham, the two £100m men were absent, both injured."They didn’t need the German’s creativity to be prolific, or the Swede’s speed. Directly or indirectly, they scored from three before the break."Finally, Lewis Steele of the Daily Mail chose to look at the weather and a former four-piece Merseybeat combo."A first outing of the season for sunshine and bright blue skies made this Anfield afternoon feel rather like spring 2025 – but the weather was not the only reason," he witters."For the first time since the famous day of April last when Liverpool won the Premier League title by thrashing Tottenham, the Reds scored three in a first half and put a game to bed."The weather makes everything feel better and, like the lyrics to Here Comes The Sun by local band the Beatles, it has been a long, cold, lonely winter for Liverpool."But the green shoots of spring are now showing after a taxing mid-season slump-cum-crisis for the champions, who have now won four games in a row."FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE!