West Ham end Liverpool run as Aston Villa sack Smith

West Ham United’s Kurt Zouma (centre) celebrates with teammates after scoring against Liverpool during the Premier League match at the London Stadium yesterday. (Reuters)

West Ham beat Liverpool 3-2 yesterday to end the Reds’ 25-match unbeaten run as struggling Aston Villa fired manager Dean Smith on a day of high drama in the Premier League. Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side were one game away from setting a new club record of 26 games unbeaten in all competitions but three costly errors from goalkeeper Alisson Becker cost them dear. Elsewhere in the English top flight, Antonio Conte had a taste of the scale of his task at new club Tottenham as they laboured to a 0-0 draw at Everton. Liverpool travelled to the London Stadium without a defeat in the league since March but they left frustrated as West Ham leapfrogged them into third spot in the table. It was a day to forget for Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson, whose own goal put West Ham ahead in the first half. Trent Alexander-Arnold equalised with a brilliant free-kick, but Alisson was at fault again as Pablo Fornals and Kurt Zouma struck for the Hammers after half-time. Divock Origi got one back for Liverpool, but it was not enough to preserve their long unbeaten streak. “It’s been hard to beat Liverpool over my career, they’ve been a very good side, so I was very pleased to get it today,” West Ham manager David Moyes said. “Even when it went to 3-1 it was never comfortable. Liverpool were very good and we had to work hard to keep them out.” Klopp said key moments went against his team. “We were not that calm in the decisive moments... we were not patient enough,” he said. “We can be better, 100%. You cannot always play your best result, you have to grind out a result but they scored three goals and we didn’t.” Spurs sacked Nuno Espirito Santo last week after five defeats in seven Premier League matches and turned to Conte, who has won league titles with Juventus, Chelsea and Inter Milan. A game short on clear-cut chances could easily have ended in another league defeat for the visitors but for an intervention from VAR to overturn the decision to award Everton a second-half penalty. Rafael Benitez’s side thought they had won a spot-kick after Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris dived at the feet of Richarlison and clipped the Brazilian. But after a VAR review referee Chris Kavanagh overturned his original decision on the basis that Lloris got enough of a touch on the ball. Mason Holgate was sent off for the home side in stoppage time but it was too late for Spurs to take advantage. Conte can point to a first clean sheet in the league since August as a sign of progress but Tottenham’s struggle to score goes on, with Harry Kane still stuck on one goal in the Premier League this season. “Today I saw the heart of my players, the passion, the will to fight, the will to sacrifice, to understand this was a very difficult moment for us and to see this makes me more confident for the future,” said the Italian. Mikel Arteta celebrated his 100th game as Arsenal manager with a 1-0 victory against 10-man Watford, courtesy of a goal from Emile Smith Rowe. Rowe broke the deadlock in the second half after an inspired performance from Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster had frustrated the hosts, with Juraj Kucka dismissed late on at the Emirates Stadium. The three points mean Arsenal, unbeaten in 10 games in all competitions, leapfrog Brighton and Manchester United. Watford are just two points above the relegation zone after three defeats in four league matches under new boss Claudio Ranieri. The Gunners last season failed to qualify for Europe for the first time in 26 years but they are now unbeaten in 10 games in all competitions.   Leeds and Leicester shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw after a stunner from Harvey Barnes cancelled out Raphinha’s opener.  Earlier, Villa announced they had sacked manager Smith after five straight Premier League defeats — less than 24 hours after bottom club Norwich dismissed their boss, Daniel Farke. The former European champions are now 16th in the Premier League table after picking up just 10 points from their opening 11 games. “This year we have not seen the continuous improvement in results, performances and league position which we have all been looking for,” Villa chief executive Christian Purslow said in a statement on the club’s website. Smith is the fifth managerial casualty in the Premier League this season. On Saturday, Norwich sacked manager Daniel Farke hours after they beat Brentford to register their first Premier League win of the season. The 45-year-old German had been under increasing pressure after the Canaries failed to win any of their opening 10 games on their return to the Premier League. The Canaries remain bottom of the English top flight with five points from 11 games. Farke, who joined the club in 2017, won promotion for Norwich two years later, only for the club to go straight back down to the second-tier Championship. But he guided Norwich to an immediate top-flight return, again as champions, and was rewarded with a new four-year contract in July.Premier League results Arsenal 1 (Smith Rowe 56) Watford 0; Everton 0 Tottenham 0; Leeds 1 (Raphinha 26) Leicester 1 (Barnes 28); West Ham 3 (Alisson 4-og, Fornals 67, Zouma 74) Liverpool 2 (Alexander-Arnold 41, Origi 83) Played Saturday: Manchester United 0 Manchester City 2 (Bailly 7-og, Silva 45); Brentford 1 (Henry 60) Norwich 2 (Normann 6, Pukki 29-pen); Chelsea 1 (Havertz 33) Burnley 1 (Vydra 79); Crystal Palace 2 (Zaha 61, Gallagher 78) Wolves 0; Brighton 1 (Trossard 24-pen) Newcastle 1 (Hayden 66) Played Friday: Southampton 1 (Adam Armstrong 3) Aston Villa 0