Rafa Benitez can forget all of his hard-luck stories - Liverpool got exactly what they deserved.
West Ham midfielder Mark Noble's coolly-taken winning penalty deep into the third minute of stoppage time was a heartbreaker for Liverpool.
But do not let that hide the fact that Liverpool were absolutely awful and could manage only one shot on target all night. Liverpool are now a staggering 17 points behind the Premier League leaders and have now slumped to seventh.
It is probably only the fact that Liverpool are still in the Champions League that is keeping Benitez in a job because American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are getting impatient for a return on their investment.
It was even noticeable that the travelling Liverpool fans - so loyal to the Spanish manager - rarely sang Benitez's name and it is no surprise that even their patience is growing thin after nights like these.
It was a very poor advert for the Premier League because it was a dull, boring game lacking incident right up until injury time. But Liverpool must take their share of the blame as Benitez's negative tactics made it a very poor spectacle.
Steven Gerrard was a virtual bystander as Noble over-ran him in midfield and if anything the West Ham youngster would have caught the eye of Fabio Capello's No.2 Franco Baldini who was sat up in the stands.
It was not until midway through the second half that Gerrard was let off the leash to make one of his trademark forward runs.
But otherwise Liverpool strikers Fernando Torres and Dirk Kuyt were left hopelessly isolated. As the game petered out, Torres, the club's £26million record signing, became more and more frustrated and eventually got booked for throwing the ball away in disgust.
It typified Liverpool's growing unhappiness and on last night's showing it is easy to understand why.
There can be no guarantees of getting into the top four because they look a team off form and short of confidence. Liverpool have not won in the league since Boxing Day and suffered four successive draws before last night's last-gasp defeat.
And if West Ham's finishing had been as good as FA Cup heroes Havant and Waterlooville then the defeat would have been even more comprehensive.
But West Ham were hopelessly wasteful all night with Luis Boa Morte in particular the worst culprit and it was no surprise that he got booed off when he was substituted.
Boa Morte blazed over a glorious chance in the 22nd minute as West Ham started much the better and Liverpool never seemed to be able to gain a foothold on the game.
The closest West Ham came in open play was in the 27th minute when man-of-the-match Noble saw a deflected free-kick crash against the bar.
Noble's delivery clipped off Liverpool full-back Steve Finnan and hit the woodwork. It was a let-off for Liverpool and Benitez but any hopes of a half-time rollicking and second-half improvement were quickly dashed after the restart.
Kuyt at least put over a half decent cross to Harry Kewell at the back post in the 50th minute but the Aussie winger scuffed his shot wide.
Kewell was substituted in favour of Brazilian Lucas while West Ham went for the jugular as off came Boa Morte and Lee Bowyer and Dean Ashton and Matthew Etherington were sent on to chase the victory.
Finally the game became a bit more open but even Gerrard could not work his magic as another strong run forward ended with him blazing horribly high and wide.
Liverpool's only other shout was when Lucas Neill appeared to handle in the West Ham box but it went unpunished.
But it was the Hammers who finished stronger and it was Freddie Ljungberg's pace which earned the victory. He raced into the box, turned inside Jamie Carragher whose outstretched leg brought down the midfielder for a stonewall penalty and Noble beat Jose Reina from the spot.
West Ham: Green 6, Neill 6, Ferdinand 6, Upson 7, McCartney 6, Bowyer 6 (Ashton 58, 6), Mullins 7, Noble 8, Ljungberg 7, Boa Morte 5 (Etherington 58, 6), Cole 6 (Spector 81).
Liverpool: Reina 6, Finnan 7, Hyypia 6, Carragher 7, Aurelio 6, Benayoun 5 (Babel 73, 5), Alonso 6, Gerrard 5, Kewell 5 (Lucas 62, 5), Kuyt 5, Torres 5.
WEST HAM UTD LIVERPOOL
48% POSSESSION 52%
1 SHOTS ON TARGET 1
6 SHOTS OFF TARGET 7
2 OFFSIDES 2
4 CORNERS 6
13 FOULS 22
0 YELLOW CARDS 3
0 RED CARDS 0
ATTENDANCE: 34,977
Man Of The Match: Noble