Liverpool began their Premier League title defence with a 4-2 victory against Bournemouth at Anfield.
Late goals from Federico Chiesa and Mohamed Salah ensured that Liverpool began their title defence with victory in a contest barred by racial abuse of Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo.
Hugo Ekitike fired Liverpool into a half-time lead with a brilliant finish to an one-two move involving Alexis Mac Allister, before Cody Gakpo met the Frenchman’s 49th-minute lay-off pass and rifled in the Reds second goal.
Semenyo however equalised in the space of 12 minutes as he first turned in David Brooks’ low cross, before he broke forward from Hamed Traore’s through ball pass.
A poignant pre-match atmosphere saw players and fans alike pay tribute to Liverpool’s Diogo Jota with a powerful rendition of ‘You will Never Walk Alone’ and moment of silence, with the 28-year-old having been killed in a car accident in early July in Zamora, Spain.
Once the match got underway, Liverpool asserted their aggressive tempo as Djorde Petrovic found himself forced to flap Mohamed Salah’s fourth-minute cross over the bar, before Virgil van Dijk headed over from the subsequent set piece..
Bournemouth almost punished that wasted chance as summer signing, Adrien Truffert whipped in a sixth-minute cross which Antoine Semenyo could only smash over the bar from close range.
Andoni Iraola’s Cherries however stood firm amidst an alleged racist remark toward Semenyo from a member of the crowd, until Ekitike played an one-two move with Mac Allister which he regathered and beat Marcos Sensei’s deflective touch to rifle in the opener into the bottom-right corner.
Liverpool kept up their intensity either side of half time and just four minutes into the second half, Ekitike turned provider as he laid a pass off for Gakpo who cut in and rifled into the bottom right corner, akin to Ekitike’s opener in their Community Shield defeat to Crystal Palace last weekend.
Bournemouth eventually rediscovered their mojo just past the hour mark and forced a mistake from Dominik Szoboszlai, which allowed Brooks to launch a 64th-minute counter-attack up the left with a low cross flicked in by Semenyo to reduce their deficit.
Liverpool almost restored their two-goal lead barely four minutes later after Alisson launched a goal-kick up the pitch which fell to Salah’s feet, but the Egyptian took too long to line up a shot which Petrovic calmly saved.
Bournemouth however upped their intensity once Ekitike was substituted for defender, Joe Gomez, in a move which Liverpool boss, Arne Slot was punished for as Semenyo broke forward with a 76th-minute solo run via Traore’s through ball which he smashed low past Alisson to restore parity.
Liverpool had never lost at home in the Premier League when had led 2-0 at any stage and that record was preserved in the 88th minute as a cross caused chaos inside the box, and the ball fell for Chiesa to volley in past Petrovic on his right foot to snatch victory.
Salah further consolidated their win after he pounced upon Wataru Endo’s long ball and calmly bent a shot past Petrovic to cap a strong start to their title defence.
Ekitike post-match told Sky Sports that he was happy with their mentality to get the win for fans and Jota but vowed to make personal improvements to his game.
“I think it was a good performance. I could do better. But the most important thing tonight is the win and the mentality we showed. We wanted to win for the people who came tonight and for Diogo and that’s what we did, so I’m happy for everybody.
“I have so many things to do better. I helped the team as much as I could, I can do a lot of things. I think I will get better and do even more for this team.”
What’s Next?
Liverpool now face a ten-day wait until their next match which sees them head to Newcastle United on Bank Holiday Monday 25 August in a 8pm BST kick-off.
Bournemouth meanwhile host Wolves at the Vitality Stadium on 23 August (3pm) in their first home game of the season.
Teams
Liverpool: Alisson, Jeremie Frimpong (Endo 60′), Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, Milos Kerkez (Robertson 60′), Alexis Mac Allister (Jones 72′), Dominik Szoboszlai, Mohamed Salah, Florian Wirtz (Chiesa 82′), Cody Gakpo, Hugo Ekitike (Gomez 72′)
Substitutes: Federico Chiesa, Harvey Elliott, Wataru Endo, Joe Gomez, Curtis Jones, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Rio Ngumoha, Trey Nyoni, Andrew Robertson
Bournemouth: Djorde Petrovic, Adam Smith (Hill 90′), Baforde Diakite, Marcos Senesi, Adrien Truffert, Tyler Adams (Kroupi 91′), Alex Scott (Traore 74′), David Brooks (Winterburn 84′), Marcus Tavernier, Antoine Semenyo, Evanilson
Substitutes: Julian Araujo, Philip Billing, Will Dennis, James Hill, Eli Junior Kroupi, Remy Rees-Dottin, Julio Soler, Hamed Traore, Ben Winterburn
Referee – Anthony Taylor