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Liverpool march on as league leaders, departing with no little relief from Bournemouth. Arne Slot’s team had not fallen into the traps Andoni Iraola’s team have used to sink top-four opponents this season. Mohamed Salah, with customary efficiency, scored twice to claim the three points. If his first came after a highly debatable penalty award, the second, a left-footed chip hit like a prime Tiger Woods approach shot, was a goal of inarguable beauty. It meant Liverpool had negotiated one of their most demanding remaining assignments and sent the pressure back into Arsenal’s fraying mindset. The post-match celebrations reflected the importance of victory.
A game too far for Bournemouth? They were unchanged, as necessity has demanded for weeks now, Liverpool able to field the same XI that swept aside Ipswich last week. A lack of jeopardy in the week’s Champions League action meant only Andy Robertson and Cody Gakpo had played at PSV Eindhoven.
If Liverpool’s record against Bournemouth is one of overall domination, the Vitality Stadium staged a couple of chastening defeats for Jürgen Klopp, a 4-3 December 2016 comeback under Eddie Howe and, under Gary O’Neill two seasons ago, when Salah missed a penalty. Slot’s first visit saw no such slip-ups.
Bournemouth’s rise this season has seen them punish opponents, make them question their own existence via dazzling speed and movement, Manchester City and Arsenal included, even before last week’s 5-0 signature destruction of Nottingham Forest, a result was made to look even more extraordinary by Saturday’s events at the City Ground. Liverpool escaped such a fate.
The hosts began with a trademark high press of Trent Alexander-Arnold, creating a half-chance for Antoine Semenyo. Just like last week, Bournemouth’s collection of injured players watched from behind the glass of a TV studio. Despite the success of his first XI, Iraola cannot afford further casualties and there was relief when Tyler Adams recovered from an early facial injury.
That Alexander-Arnold’s flank was being targeted was clear, Justin Kluivert often joining in for the overload. Semenyo, cutting in, smashed the post after sending Alexander-Arnold to a different postcode – Pokesdown, Southbourne? – with a drag-back. Liverpool were meanwhile having one of their circumspect starts, only a couple of flickers of danger. Gakpo zipping in a shot, Salah having a similar, low effort into the arms of Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Liverpool’s lead came via controversy. Darren England’s decision that Lewis Cook had clipped Gakpo’s heels looked soft, softer yet on the replay but VAR went with the referee’s call. Salah slotted his penalty for his 20th Premier League goal of the season at the opposite end from where he missed two years ago. That turned the home crowd rancorously against the officials, and blowing much of the wind from their team’s sails. Further disappointment arrived when David Brooks had the ball in net, only for Milos Kerkez’s blindside run to be ruled offside, by a long-delayed VAR call looking clear and obvious from the outset.
Where previously they have been incisive, clear-thinking in decision-making, Iraola’s team became guilty of too many passes and over-playing, though Liverpool’s calm, ordered defending, marshalled by talkative though rarely fazed Virgil van Dijk, deserved due credit.
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Beyond the break, Bournemouth attempted to resume normal service and blaze into their opponents, forcing Liverpool into discomfort. Kluivert swung at a volley that was beaten away, and Ryan Christie’s toe-end pass put Semenyo in on Alisson, the goalkeeper only just smothering the danger. That led to space opening up for Liverpool. Salah dragged wide as Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister became increasingly prominent. Frustrations with England only grew when Dango Ouattara robbed substitute Curtis Jones and was penalised as he escaped just before the referee waved play on as Van Dijk smashed into the same player, only to then book the Dutchman but not award a free-kick.
If Bournemouth were blunted, Liverpool were operating below top gear. Alexander-Arnold departed with an injury as Slot reorganised his team, demonstrative but without histrionics. Marcus Tavernier, on as a sub, cracked a post from 25 yards out, and Kluivert, of all players, badly missed the rebound. Within moments, Salah had struck that wonderful second goal, and any danger was then closed down as Wataru Endo, whose role these days resembles that of a baseball closer, came on to see out an important win over a dangerous opponent.
