Reds go top despite draw

Liverpool moved to the top of the Premier League after being held to a goalless draw by West Ham.

Hyypia close for Reds, Bellamy hits post for Hammers

Liverpool moved to the top of the Premier League after being held to a goalless draw by West Ham at Anfield on Monday night. The Reds could not turn a domination of possession into goals, with veteran defender Sami Hyypia going close with four chances in both halves, with Carlton Cole clearing one effort off the line. Instead it was former Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy who went closest to scoring when his long-range effort from outside the box hit Pepe Reina's right post. In the second period, Robert Green needed to pull off a great full stretch save to deny Yossi Benayoun, while at the other end Cole went close before a long range Ryan Babel effort was inches wide for the Reds in injury time. Liverpool had two early penalty appeals turned down by referee Peter Walton when both Benayoun and then Dirk Kuyt drove the ball at Herita Ilunga from close range. West Ham had looked tentative from the start, with Scott Parker - playing despite a week of illness - being caught in possession, while Julian Flaubert seemed unsure of what to do when he got the ball. After 14 minutes Robert Green raced from his line to punch away, but the ball fell to Albert Riera, whose shot was blocked in the six-yard box by James Collins. The Liverpool pressure increased and Mullins was booked after 19 minutes when he tripped Benayoun in full flow.

Off line

Two minutes later another header from Hyypia was kicked off the line by Cole. West Ham's only shot until this point had been a weak long-range effort from Faubert, scooped up by Reina. Liverpool kept plugging away, showing the sort of patience in such situations that boss Rafael Benitez called for after the 0-0 home draw with Fulham nine days ago. Steven Gerrard worked his way in from the right and fired into the side-netting, before Craig Bellamy - on his return to Anfield after moving to West Ham 17 months ago - almost broke the deadlock. Bellamy picked up possession 30 yards out and unleashed a fine, swerving drive that crashed against Reina's right-hand post and bounced across goal to safety. Then Robert Green made a fine point-blank save from Kuyt's header following a Xabi Alonso corner, two minutes from the break. Kuyt and Keane both saw shots go wide as Liverpool opened the second period on the attack. But Bellamy was still a danger for West Ham, and after running past Hyypia he was body-checked by Alonso, the Spaniard being booked. Then after 56 minutes Green produced a stunning save to turn over a Benayoun drive from 10 yards. Parker shot weakly wide before Mullins drilled a low drive through a ruck of players for Reina to save.

Volleyed fiercely

After 62 minutes Alonso volleyed fiercely over from a squared Gerrard free-kick. And four minutes later the ineffective Keane was replaced by French striker David Ngog. West Ham broke out of defence after 67 minutes, winning a corner. And when Bellamy curled it towards the near post, Cole headed inches wide. Then from a right-wing corner, Hyypia rose to head narrowly over the bar. Liverpool sent on Ryan Babel for Riera after 78 minutes, with West Ham hanging on as the pressure mounted. Hyypia headed just wide from a Gerrard corner, with the Kop behind Green's goal demanding that Liverpool attack more. West Ham sent on Luis Boa Morte for Faubert with six minutes of regulation time left. Green then produced another fine save from a close-range Kuyt effort following Gerrard's deep cross. Bellamy and Parker created a chance for Boa Morte on the break, but he sliced his effort wide. Babel then broke to see a shot deflected over as West Ham held on for a valuable point which moves them to 13th in the table.

Liverpool	Team Statistics	West Ham United
0	Goals	0
0	1st Half Goals	0
6	Shots on Target	2
15	Shots off Target	5
4	Blocked Shots	0
17	Corners	5
5	Fouls	9
3	Offsides	5
1	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
85.7	Passing Success	67.4
20	Tackles	27
80	Tackles Success	70.4
66.9	Possession	33.1
60.3	Territorial Advantage	39.7