Ten-man Liverpool came from behind to beat Bournemouth 3-1 with goals from Luis Diaz, Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota more than making up for Antoine Semenyo’s early opener in their Premier League clash at Anfield on Saturday.
Liverpool made light of playing a third of the match with 10 men after Alexis Mac Allister was sent off for a high tackle, as they sealed their first win of the season with relative ease – though they were given a scare in the opening spell.
The visitors’ new coach Andoni Iraola set up his side to swarm Liverpool’s midfielders – a tactic that worked a charm as Jaidon Anthony had a goal disallowed for offside in the first minute.
Two minutes later, the Reds, who drew 1-1 at Chelsea in their opener, were left shocked when Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was playing as a midfielder in possession, lost the ball in a dangerous area before Semenyo fired the south-coast club in front.
Following the dismal start, Liverpool, who have not lost to Bournemouth at Anfield before, grew into the contest and Diaz got the breakthrough as he flicked the ball into the air and scored with an acrobatic volley.
Bournemouth defender Joe Rothwell then brought down Dominik Szoboszlai and Salah, who missed a penalty when the two sides last met in March, had his spot-kick saved before smashing home the follow-up to make it 2-1 in the 36th.
“Sometimes we start strong, sometimes we start like this. The best thing was the reaction from the whole team,” midfielder Szoboszlai told Sky Sports.
“Some of us made some mistakes but the reaction was unbelievable. We scored a quick goal and scored again.”
Liverpool kept up the pressure in the second half and scored their third goal through Jota, despite having gone down to 10 men just before the hour mark when Mac Allister was shown a straight red for a high tackle on Rothwell.
Mac Allister’s sending off made little difference to Liverpool’s dominance as they outplayed Bournemouth in the second half.
Goalkeeper Neto did well to keep the deficit in check, saving efforts from Salah and Jota to prevent another thrashing like the 9-0 defeat Bournemouth were handed on their last visit to Anfield.
Liverpool’s new signing Wataru Endo, who came off the bench in the second half, had a strong showing on his debut, asserting himself in midfield as the hosts coasted to victory.
“In the first half we played very good and started really well and competed,” Bournemouth manager Iraola told Sky Sports.
“The key was the third goal after they were playing with 10. We had chances to score a second, but the third (Liverpool) goal kept us out of the game.”
Bournemouth next host Tottenham Hotspur, while Liverpool will travel to face Newcastle United.