LIVERPOOL have beaten Bournemouth in the opening game of the Premier League season.
It was the Cherries who had the best chance in the first 30 minutes of the match. Antoine Semenyo fired over after a great cross from debutant Adrienne Truffert, setting the tone for a busy day infront of goal for the former.
Hugo Ekitike opened the scoring in the 37th minute. A bit of luck via a deflection was needed, but the ball found its’ way to the Frenchman, who finished coolly. He now has two goals already in English Football – also scoring in Liverpool’s Community Shield defeat at Wembley.
Liverpool’s second goal of the game arrived just after half-time. Cody Gakpo drifted infield from the left, before beautifully finishing into Jorge Petrovic’s bottom-right corner. In a period where senior staff are being cut-throat with attacking departures, (see Luis Diaz & Darwin Nunez), it’s important that Gakpo impresses Arne Slot on a regular basis. He surely did, tonight.
Instantly, it felt as if the game was out of Bournemouth’s reach at 2-0 down. But as we saw throughout last season, Andoni Iraola’s team rarely drop in intensity. Semenyo eventually finished past Alisson Becker, 64 minutes into the affair – but it was David Brook’s cross which was the highlight in the move. The ball was travelling wide, but Brooks, while on the run, managed to hook it back into the middle with pace, perfectly into his opposite winger’s path.
A couple of reserved Liverpool substitutions later, one being defender Joe Gomez entering the fray for goalscorer Ekitike, Bournemouth drew level in the 76th minute. Semenyo scored his second of the game, carrying the ball from his own half to finish from just outside the box, manoeuvring past a helpless Ibrahima Konate in the process.
Liverpool have only dropped points from being 2-0 up seven times (zero losses) in Premier League history at Anfield – a statistic which remains unchanged after tonight. It was late, but they found the winner through the lesser-seen Federico Chiesa. Despite only playing six league games last campaign, Slot seems happy to keep Chiesa around and tonight’s goal showed why. The Italian pounced on Ben Winterburn’s failed clearance, finishing on the volley from close range.
Even at 3-2 up, An opening-night win at Anfield would never have truly finished without a Mohamed Salah goal. Wataru Endo’s aimless clearance over Bournemouth’s defence found Salah, who delivered a rare goal on his weaker right-foot, evading pressure from James Hill.
Full-time, Liverpool 4-2 Bournemouth
Bournemouth will be happy with their performance tonight, once the dust has settled. They now looking ahead to a more favourable run of fixtures, where we can really judge the impact of their difficult transfer window.
As for Liverpool, they must adapt quickly to their Summer overhaul. They were leading Crystal Palace on two separate occasions at Wembley on Saturday but were still taken to penalties and lost the match. Their firepower was enough tonight to avoid a repeat of those events at Wembley – but The Red’s will not retain the Premier League crown by conceding two goals every week!
