- Slaven Bilic happy with 2-2 Premier League draw at Liverpool
- Hammers fell behind, led, were pegged back and held on to secure a point
- Manager wants his team to build on result in home games with Burnley and Hull
Slaven Bilic hailed West Ham United’s resilience and togetherness in securing a deserved 2-2 Premier League draw at Liverpool.
The Hammers went to Anfield without eleven senior players and on the back of a 5-1 home defeat by Arsenal, and their confidence took a further dent when Adam Lallana slotted the Reds into a fourth-minute lead.
However, a trademark Dimitri Payet free-kick and Michail Antonio’s opportunistic strike had Bilic’s side in front by half-time.
Divock Origi took advantage of a Darren Randolph error to level three minutes into the second half, but the Hammers produced a fine rearguard action to hold on and take a very hard-earned point back to east London.
“The players deserve a lot of credit, of course,” said the manager. “We conceded an early goal so it was a bad start to the game for us, but after that in the first half we definitely showed a great reaction and were good on the ball and created chances.
“Of course we had to defend, but I’m really happy with the way we reacted after the goal.
“In the second half we were expecting Liverpool to move forward, but I also expected us to be better with the ball, which we weren’t. However, we showed compactness and resilience and we got a point, which was a real achievement for us.
“We lost 5-1 at home against Arsenal, then conceded an early goal here and our confidence dropped even more, but as I said, we showed character first of all, teamwork and togetherness and we got a really good result.”
Bilic was also supportive of his goalkeeper, who shrugged off his mistake to make a truly world-class save to keep out Jordan Henderson’s curling effort, which was destined for the top corner.
We showed compactness and resilience and we got a point, which was a real achievement for us
Slaven Bilic
“That’s the nature of their job,” he observed. “When they make a mistake like Randy did for the second one, it can be difficult, but apart from that he was solid, he was really good and made a couple of great saves, so I’m happy with him.”
The challenge for West Ham now is to build on Sunday’s draw by beating newly-promoted Burnley and Hull City at London Stadium this coming week.
Both the Clarets and the Tigers secured their own impressive results at the weekend – Burnley beating AFC Bournemouth and Hull drawing with Crystal Palace – so Bilic knows the Hammers will not be able to take their collective foot off the pedal.
“We knew that after these four games we had a couple of games at home against Burnley and against Hull, which we have to win, basically,” he concluded.
“Hopefully we’re going to win them and while it isn’t going to change our season, it will help us move up the table and be in a much better situation.
“They will be very hard games, of course, where we have to show our quality first of all, and our togetherness and everything. They will be difficult games, but I’m sure we’re going to be ready for Burnley.”