Liverpool vs West Ham: 'Cats Lives Matter' banner flown over Anfield for Premier League game
Liverpool vs West Ham United won’t be winning awards for entertainment any time soon.
Despite the clash at Anfield pitting two of the most impressive Premier League teams of the season up against one another, it didn’t live up to the billing as the Reds eventually walked away 1-0 victors.
The breakthrough moment came in the first-half when Trent Alexander-Arnold played a threatening ball across the penalty area that Sadio Mane bundled into the back of the net from close range.
And while a lengthly check from VAR ensued, the lone goal of the game was confirmed to be a legal one with Liverpool duly keeping pace with Manchester City in the fight for the Premier League title.
West Ham did have their moments with Manuel Lanzini spurning a brilliant chance in the box over the crossbar, while Alexander-Arnold was called upon to make an impressive goal-line clearance.
As such, one of the prevailing themes of the game actually surrounded feline iconography presumably produced by Liverpool fans in light of the recent controversy surrounding West Ham’s Kurt Zouma.
The Hammers defender was the centre of a media storm in February when distressing footage of him kicking and slapping his pet cat spread online.
Zouma apologised for the episode which saw him slapped with a £250,000 fine from West Ham and lose sponsors such as Adidas and Vitality, while the cats themselves were seized by the RSPCA.
And it would appear as though the alarming incident was one that certain fans took advantage of during the Hammers’ trip to Merseyside on Saturday night.
In fact, as confirmed by Carl Markham of PA Media, a plane carrying a banner with the message: “Cats Lives Matter,” was seen flying over Liverpool’s stadium ahead of the Premier League