London: Liverpool's unbeaten run of eight matches under Kenny Dalglish came to an end on Sunday as West Ham earned a deserved 3-1 victory over them to move off the bottom of the Premier League table.
Goals by inspirational captain Scott Parker, recent signing Demba Ba and a reinvigorated Carlton Cole were more than enough to see off a Liverpool side whose only response was a late effort by Glen Johnson.
Parker - whose rousing half-time talk a fortnight ago had been credited for inspiring the Hammers to come back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 with fellow relegation strugglers West Brom - struck just after the 20 minute mark with a nice effort.
Ba - who scored a brace in the West Brom match - then added to the hosts' lead with a fine header from Gary O'Neil's cross.
The Hammers dominated much of the match as the midfield axis of Parker and German international midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger - who only made his debut for them on last Monday after being out injured since signing last June - ran affairs and gives real hope they can escape the drop should both stay fit.
Liverpool reduced the deficit when Johnson tapped in with six minutes remaining but Cole assuaged any home fans' fears of a comeback by the visitors as he restored the two goal advantage shortly afterwards and record only their sixth league win of the campaign.