Liverpool profited from James Collins own goal 11 minutes from time to come from behind and beat West Ham at Upton Park.

Sam Allardyce will point to the loss of Mohamed Diame to injury in the second as the catalyst for their downfall  after his half time introduction had inspired them to a memorable 3-1 victory over Chelsea seven days prior.

The Reds, without the suspended Luis Suarez, have found the winning groove of late and displayed their fighting spirit to turn a one goal deficit around in the dying embers of the game to record their first win after a Europa League game in nine attempts.

It was certainly a surprise when the visitors took the lead with just 11 minutes on the clock given the absence of Suarez and 20-year-old Jonjo Shelvey leading the line.

But there was nothing they could do to stop former charge Glen Johnson opened the scoring in spectacular fashion, taking Steven Gerrard's pass and cutting in from the right before smashing an unstoppable left footed strike into the top corner.

The hosts responded and from Matt Jarvis' cross Diame saw his shot deflected wide by teammate Carlton Cole before Daniel Agger had to stretch to stop the Hammers striker later on.

But they finally forced an equaliser in the 36th minute when Joe Allen was penalised by referee Lee Probert for handling Guy Demel's strike and Mark Noble stepped up to beat Pepe Reina from the spot.

Things got worse for Liverpool three minutes before the break as Gerrard headed Jarvis' cross into his own net. Shelvey, who suffered a frustrating afternoon, saw a deflected effort tipped over before Diame's departure in the 72nd minute allowed the away side to take a foothold.

It proved a crucial blow to West Ham as four minutes later as Joe Cole, another former Upton Park favourite, adding a measured finish to Raheem Sterling's pass to level the game.

And there was one last sting in the tale for the hosts as Collins attempted to pip Shelvey to Jordan Henderson's cross but contrived to lift the ball over Jussi Jaaskelainen to hand the Reds victory.