Liverpool endured a nightmare start to the New Year as they were emphatically beaten 2-0 by West Ham United at Upton Park on Saturday afternoon.
Jürgen Klopp's side looked out of sorts from the off and fell behind after just nine minutes as Enner Valencia was allowed too much time to find Michail Antonio with a pinpoint cross and the winger powered a header past Simon Mignolet.
Manuel Lanzini almost doubled their advantage with a stunning swerving strike that wrong-footed the goalkeeper but crashed off the woodwork, whilst Emre Can hit the crossbar up the other end minutes before the interval.
The Reds initially improved in the early stages of the second-half but they struggled to create any chances of note despite their dominance of the ball and were made to pay when former Red Andy Carroll headed home for the hosts' second goal.
And West Ham soaked up plenty of pressure from the away side to complete their first double over the Merseyside outfit since the 1963-64 season, also ending the visitors' hopes of winning a third successive top-flight game for the first time this season.
Dreadful start for below-par Reds
The tone of the first-half could have been very different indeed had Jordon Ibe not wasted a good opportunity to test Adrian early on, pulling his low shot wide of the far post after linking up with Philippe Coutinho.
Though much of the ball in the opening minutes was in the home side's half, it was the Hammers who looked more dangerous once they got into attacking positions and it was they who found the breakthrough after nine minutes.
Poor defending from Lucas Leiva was to blame after he stood off Valencia and allowed the Ecuadorian striker to pick out Antonio at the back post. The winger outjumped Nathaniel Clyne to head home his sixth goal of the season - though there was some debate over whether there should have been a foul in the build-up.
From then on, West Ham continued to look the dangerous more team in front of goal even in spite of them seeing less of the ball. Former Liverpool striker Andy Carroll almost made it 2-0 after Aaron Cresswell's cross from the left, but he could only guide his header into Mignolet's grasp from close-range.
The visitors continued to lack fluency in the final third, as shown during a promising counter-attack which saw Roberto Firmino send Coutinho into space, but there was no-one on the end of his low cross across the box.
Almost immediately up the other end, only a few inches of the woodwork denied West Ham a second goal. Lanzini found space on the edge of the box and fired a moving strike which deceived Mignolet only to swerve to the right and bounce back off the post, whilst Antonio couldn't get a foot on the rebound.
Both sides hit the woodwork before the break
Slaven Bilić's men continued to carry more threat, whilst they also managed to contain Liverpool's main focal points well. Firmino's through ball fed Benteke into a promising position but with space ahead of the Belgian, his poor first touch allowed James Collins to recover and clear.
They were found wanting again after a loose ball fell for Firmino inside the box but he hesitated to put a strong boot in and was unable to put the ball over the line.
Time after time, the Reds struggled to create any memorable opportunities whilst their opponents looked troubling every time they threw men forward. Only Clyne's block prevented Cresswell's effort from creeping in at the near post.
With five minutes added on at the end of the first-half, Emre Can almost changed Klopp's half-time team talk after good play between Ibe and Firmino down the right-hand side. The Brazilian laid the ball off nicely for Can to look to guide a shot into the top corner, but the ball was always rising as it cannonned off the bar.
Hammers head home a second as Liverpool's finishing disappoints
Liverpool started strongly after the break with more intent and purpose, but they still struggled to worthwhile openings in behind the Hammers' back-line - Coutinho driving a shot high and wide from distance before Benteke couldn't get the required connection after he had peeled away from his marker to meet Moreno's pull-back.
Inevitably, West Ham went up the other end and demonstrated their superior desire and determination to win the ball as they scored a second goal. Another excellent cross, this time from Mark Noble, was at the perfect height for Andy Carroll who leapt above everyone inside the box to head into the bottom corner.
In an attempt to switch things up after the hour, left-back Brad Smith came on for his first appearance since December 2013 to replace Moreno whilst Adam Lallana replaced Firmino in attacking midfield.
Bilić also looked to make changes of his own, calling Dmitri Payet off of the bench to play his first minutes since November and it was the Croatian's substitutions which paid dividends, rather than Klopp's - with Payet adding some flair in the final stages and helping to keep the ball inside Liverpool's half for crucial respite late on.
Lallana almost made a much-needed contribution, nearly picking out Benteke at the far post with a clipped cross from the by-line - but his team-mate was late in arriving to the six-yard box and couldn't get a shot away.
Hosts soak up pressure to see out deserved win
Those fine margins continued to frustrate the away supporters, who saw little in the way of imagination, invention or creativity as the game wore on, Ibe's speculative shot flying unsurprisingly wide as they continued to be frustrated.
Minutes later it could and should have been 3-0 as Carroll wasted a fine opportunity after more stunning service. Payet found Cresswell on the overlap and Carroll bullied Smith to tower over him and win the header, though Mignolet was able to deny him at point-blank whilst Antonio was unable to get to the second ball as Mignolet clawed it away from danger.
Liverpool did muster some effort to find a way back into the game as they shot towards the away contingent, but they were unable to do so - Clyne's cross blocked after he had been picked out well by Emre Can before Smith's cross which would surely have seen Benteke halve the deficit from six-yards deflected out for a corner.
It looked as though Coutinho would pull one back with 15 minutes remaining after he jinked through a number of challenges on his way through to goal, but as he got one-on-one, Adrian was able to smother before he could get a shot away.
They continued to enjoy their most consistent spell of pressure as Collins threw himself onto Lallana's free-kick delivery to prevent Benteke from getting a tough before Noble cleared Lucas Leiva's header off of the line from the resulting corner.
Liverpool went close again as another corner bounced kindly out to Coutinho on the edge-of-the-area and his well-hit half-volley struck Carroll's chest to deny them any hope of rescuing a point.
It was a similar story right into the dying embers of the game and only Mignolet's strong stop prevented Cheikhou Kouyate from finishing from Payet's exquisite through ball.
But perhaps substitute Joe Allen's 89th minute header summed up Liverpool's performance best as his late run saw him meet Smith's cross unopposed - but he somehow managed to put his effort wide of the post as Klopp and co.'s two-match winning streak was brought to an ignominious end in the capital.