Kostas Tsimikas' brave Liverpool moment vs West Ham didn't go unnoticed

The 5-1 scoreline from Liverpool’s Carabao Cup win over West Ham United immediately implies it was a comfortable night at Anfield for the Reds. Yet it needed a remarkable intervention from Kostas Tsimikas when the home team held the narrowest of advantages.

West Ham took the lead midway through the first half, thanks to an unfortunate own goal from Jarell Quansah. The visitors were ahead for just four minutes, though, and only that brief amount of time had passed after the half time interval when Diogo Jota put Liverpool in front.

Twenty-five minutes then passed before a goal from Mohamed Salah helped Arne Slot’s side to start pulling away from the Hammers. If the Reds were not exactly hanging on for dear life, the shot count was 5-2 in the visitors’ favor during that period.

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The closest Julen Lopetegui’s team came to making it 2-2 occurred around the 65th minute. First, Carlos Soler had a shot which Caoimhín Kelleher palmed away to concede a corner. Aaron Cresswell delivered the ball into the penalty box but nobody collected it, with Michail Antonio picking up possession on the opposite flank.

He found Crysencio Summerville, and when the ball broke loose, it was Antonio who forced another save from Kelleher. But this time, the ball remained in play, falling to defender Max Kilman. As he tried to find space for a shot, Tsimikas did something truly unexpected in an attempt to stop him.

It must be seen (above) to be believed. Stumbling in the six-yard box, the Greek left-back appeared to try to head the ball to safety as it rolled along the ground. The problem was that he missed it entirely and ended up lying flat on his back.

Intentional or not, it seemed to do enough to put Kilman off, and it enabled Liverpool to go on and win the game comfortably. Fans were quick to pick up on what Tsimikas had done.

One supporter posted a clip to the Reds’ Reddit page with the caption, “Tsimikas puts his life on the line to prevent a shot on goal.” The footage was widely shared on X (formerly Twitter) too. “Konstantinos Tsimikas with a very unusual intervention,” wrote @lfc_no_context, while @narshyy7 claimed “Tsimikas looks drunk.”

Whatever the 28-year-old’s thought process was, it had the desired effect of preventing West Ham from scoring. If Liverpool retain the Carabao Cup this season, that clip is bound to be recirculated and highlighted as a key intervention along the way.