West Ham 1-4 Liverpool PLAYER RATINGS: Sadio Mane back with a bang but Mark Noble has an off day

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Liverpool piled further misery on West Ham to move back into sixth spot in the Premier League and leave the Hammers hovering above the drop zone.

Quickfire goals by Mohamed Salah and Joel Matip midway through the first half put Juergen Klopp's side in control against a West Ham side woefully short of confidence.

West Ham improved immediately after the break and pulled a goal back through Manuel Lanzini but less than a minute later Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain pounced again for the visitors for whom Salah drove in a fourth with 15 minutes left.

Sportsmail's Declan Taylor rated the performances of the players on Saturday night. 

Sadio Mane showed exactly what Liverpool have been missing during his injury lay-off

West Ham (3-5-2) 

Joe Hart 6 – Could only paw deflected corner into the path of Matip for Liverpool's second but did save well from Oxlade-Chamberlain before he rammed in the rebound for No. 3. 

Winston Reid 6 – Struggled badly with pace of Liverpool attack in the first half but looked more comfortable after half time.

Angelo Ogbonna 6 – Did his best to play West Ham out of trouble with forward passing but could not get to grips with the front three of Firmino, Salah and Mane. 

West Ham goalkeeper Joe Hart was left exposed as he was beaten four times

Cheikhou Kouyate 6 – Had a hard time of it on the right of a back three in the first half and it did not get much better for him as full-back after half time. 

Edimilson Fernandes 7 – The right wing-back was arguably the home side's best player in the first half but withdrawn at the interval to accommodate West Ham's change in system. 

Pedro Obiang 6 – All blood and thunder as usual from the Spaniard but spent most of the game chasing shadows in the midfield. Struggled to create. 

Manuel Lanzini 7 – Superb touch and finish to get West Ham back in the game 10 minutes after the break but then spurned a superb chance for a second goal moments later. 

West Ham captain Maek Noble was booked for diving during the first half

Mark Noble 6 – Usual, metronomic sense in central midfield but offered little going forward. Uncharacteristically booked for diving in the first half. Subbed off. 

Aaron Cresswell 6 – Looked far better as a traditional left back in the second half after a largely forgettable 45 minutes as wing back but this was not close to his best. 

Andre Ayew 7 – Hit the post early on after racing clear but produced clever pass to set up Lanzini's goal. Linked well with Andy Carroll when the England striker was introduced. 

Javier Hernandez 6 – Waspish up top but never really looked like scoring. Should have done better with a free header when teed up by Arnautovic in the 69th minute. 

Subs

Andy Carrol 6 (for Fernandes 46) – Still a handful for any Premier League defenders and showed some trademark flick ons and link play. Sadly none of it led to goals but he made an impact. 

Marko Arnautovic 6 (for Noble 61) – Club record signing formed part of what looked like a five-pronged attack for last half hour. Did basically nothing. 

Diafra Sakho 6 (for Hernandez 72) – Barely had a touch after coming on for the closing stages. 

Subs not used: Adrian, Sakho, Haksabanovic, Masuaku, Rice. 

Liverpool defender Joel Matip buried the rebound after hart had kept out deflected corner

Liverpool (4-2-3-1) 

Simon Mignolet 6 – Not at fault for the goal but had an otherwise quiet game game between the sticks. Looked assured with high crosses. 

Joe Gomez 6 – Not totally convincing from the England new boy who failed to stop diminutive Lanzini from plucking a high ball out of the air and scoring West Ham's only goal. 

Joel Matip 7 – Tucked home Liverpool's second from close range and looked solid for the most part even when West Ham went gung ho in the closing stages. 

Ragnar Klavan 7 – Solid alongside Matip and managed to handle Andy Carroll whenever the big striker ambled his way. Alberto Moreno 6 – Little to report from Liverpool's left-back who defended well and joined in with attacks wherever possible. 

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp, left, has no doubt about Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 7 – Pure delight for the England winger who drilled in Liverpool's third goal after his initial attempt was saved by Joe Hart. First Premier League strike for his new club. 

Emre Can 7 – A good performance as part of Liverpool's two holding midfielders. A canny link between the back four and the visitors' forward stars. 

Georginio Wijnaldum 7 – Barely put a foot wrong all afternoon and is becoming one of the most consistent players of his kind in the Premier League. 

Mohamed Salah 7 – Opened the scoring after starting and finishing a classic breakaway in the 21st minute before drilling in a delightful finish for Liverpool's fourth. 

Roberto Firmino 7 – Teed up Oxlade-Chamberlain for No.3 but failed to trouble the scorers himself when he wriggled clear but only dragged a tame effort well wide of the far post. 

Sadio Mane 8 – Showed exactly what Liverpool have been missing during his month-long injury absence. Set up both Salah's goals before being withdrawn after 76 minutes. 

Subs

James Milner 6 (for Mane 76) – Did nothing wrong when brought on to shore things up for the last 14 minutes. 

Dejan Lovren 6 (for Oxlade-Chamberlain 87) - Dominic Solanke 6 (for Roberto Firmino 87) - 

Subs not used: Karius, Sturridge, Grujic, Alexandero-Arnold. 

Referee 

Neil Swarbrick 6 – Made some bizarre early decisions, including somehow missing a clear foul on Javier Hernandez, but got better as match wore on. 

Attendance: 56,961