Liverpool recovered from a disastrous start, getting goals from Luis Diaz, Mohamed Salah and a short-handed strike from Diogo Jota to beat Bournemouth 3-1 to pick up their first win of the Premier League season. The only dark cloud on the victory is that Alexis Mac Allister was sent off in the 58th minute and will have to miss at least the next match due to suspension.
First Half
Bournemouth got on the board in the third minute as Antoine Semenyo scored after a bad giveaway high up the pitch. Liverpool nearly equalized off a corner in the 5th minute, but Virgil van Dyjk's header hit the crossbar. Another bad giveaway by the Reds moments later forced Alisson to pick up a yellow card.
Liverpool settled down and played better as they peppered the goal with shots Diogo Jota, Trent Aleander-Arnold and Cody Gakpo suffered near misses. The breakthrough came in the 28th minute. Jota crossed the ball into the box and Luis Diaz scored on a beautiful overhead flick to equalize.
Liverpool stayed on the front foot, allowing Dominik Szoboszlai to make a run in the box and get taken down for a penalty. Mohamed Salah's resulting penalty was saved, but he was first to the rebound and slammed the ball home as Liverpool led 2-1 in the 36th minute. The Reds earned a pair of corners in first-half stoppage time, but they failed to capitalize.
Second Half
Liverpool earned a corner sought away in the second half and they received another in the 50th. The Reds could not capitalize as Jota missed an open net. Gakpo had a pair of shots blocked before the Reds earned their 10th corner of the match in the 55th minute.
The game got turned on its head in the 58th minute when Alexis Mac Allister was sent off for a dangerous challenge. It was Liverpool who responded after being forced to play a man down. Szoboszlai forced a save in the 62nd minute. The ball fell to the feet of Jota who did not miss from close range as Liverpool led 3-1.
Jota nearly scored again in the 67th minute, but the save was made. Salah garnered a shot in the 82nd minute and Alisson came away with a big save in the 84th. Phillip Billing put a free kick opportunity high at the end of the 90 minutes and Alisson was forced to make a pair of saves in stoppage time to seal the 3-1 win.
That's More Like it
After struggling to hold possession and generate chances vs. Chelsea. Liverpool saw a reversal of fortunes in this match. They held 66 per cent of possession, almost a complete reversal of the effort vs Chelsea and outshot Bournemouth 26-13. Liverpool also earned 10 corners to Bournemouth's 2.
Salah Passes Gerrard
With his goal in the 36th minute, Salah passes another Reds' great Steven Gerrard with 187 career goals, good enough for 5th on the club's all-time scoring list, His goal also means Salah is the first Liverpool player to garner either a goal or an assist in 10 straight Premier League appearances since Jamie Vardy's run was snapped in 2015.
More Streaks Continue
With the result today, Liverpool remain unbeaten in their last 20 Premier League openers at Anfield. The win also runs the club's unbeaten streak to 13 matches dating back to last season.
LFC Globe Verdict
Liverpool showed great resiliency in recovering from an early goal and dominated the match from about the 20-minute mark until its conclusion. What was even more impressive is that the team looked better someways after MacAllister was sent off in the 58th minute. Also, I know it's early, but at the conclusion of the match, Liverpool sat in 3rd place on the EPL Table. They never rose that high last season and fell as low as 10th.
Man Of The Match
Just like last week, I am going with Luis Diaz. He scored on a beautiful overhead flick to equalize and settle everyone's nerves after a rough start. Dominik Szoboszlai also deserves recognition for the great all-around game he played.
What's Next
Liverpool will face a tough test as they travel to face a talented Newcastle side at Saint James' Park on Sunday, August 27th. Kickoff is set for 16:30 BST.
Goals
Liverpool
- Luis Diaz 27'
- Mohamed Salah 36'
- Diogo Jota 62'
Bournemouth
- Antoine Semenyo 3'
Substitutions
Liverpool
- Wataru Endo for Cody Gakpo 63'
- Harvey Elliott for Diogo Jota 78'
- Joe Gomez for Trent Alexander-Arnold 78'
- Kostas Tsimikas for Mohamed Salah 88'
- Darwin Núñezfor Luiz Diaz 88'
Bournemouth
- Kieffer Moore for Ryan Christie 63'
- Justin Kluivert for Jaidon Anthony 63'
- Lloyd Kelly for Joe Rothwell 76'
- David Brooks for Antoine Semenyo 76'
- Hamed Traore for Marcos Senesi 84'