Liverpool recover from ‘horrible start’ to beat Bournemouth 3-1
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Luis Diaz scoring Liverpool's equaliser past Bournemouth's Neto at Anfield on Saturday. The Reds won the English Premier League clash 3-1 on Sunday.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – Dominik Szoboszlai hailed his team’s “unbelievable reaction”, after Liverpool recovered from what Jurgen Klopp called a “horrible start” to beat Bournemouth 3-1 at Anfield on Saturday.
The Hungarian told Sky Sports: “Sometimes we start strong, sometimes we start like this. The best thing was the reaction from the whole team.
“Some of us made some mistakes but the reaction was unbelievable. We scored a quick goal and scored again. Also the red card and after the reaction was also really good. We are looking forward.”
The Cherries had opened the scoring via Antoine Semenyo after just three minutes.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, on his 200th Premier League appearance, miscontrolled a pass in midfield, resulting in a Bournemouth attack which saw Dominic Solanke’s shot blocked, before Semenyo powered the ball into the corner of the net past Alisson Becker.
That was not even Liverpool’s first warning, as Jaidon Anthony had the ball in the net earlier, following a mix-up between Alisson and Ibrahima Konate. But luckily for the Reds, Anthony was adjudged to be offside.
On nine minutes, the Reds backline was again in disarray as Alisson was shown a yellow card for scything Anthony down outside the box.
But Liverpool eventually settled and got an equaliser through a lovely bit of improvisation from Luis Diaz in the 27th minute. He flicked up Diogo Jota’s deflected pass with his first touch before acrobatically finishing into the corner of Neto’s net with his second.
Nine minutes before half-time, the Reds were ahead, albeit with a touch of fortune.
The impressive Szoboszlai, Klopp’s big summer signing at £60 million (S$103.7 million), was felled on the edge of the box by Joe Rothwell, offering Mohamed Salah the chance to give his side the lead from the penalty spot.
The Egyptian’s penalty was well saved by Neto but the rebound fell kindly into his path, allowing him to make amends.
That meant the 31-year-old is the first Red to either score or assist in 10 straight league games at Anfield.
He is also the first player to achieve that feat in 10 consecutive Premier League home matches since Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy in December 2015.
From coming back into the game, Liverpool looked like they might lose their grip when another summer signing Alexis Mac Allister was sent off for a dangerous challenge on Ryan Christie in the 58th minute.
Klopp told Sky Sports: “I understand 100 per cent how it looks for a ref in that moment but when you see it back it is the inside of the foot and no power behind it.
“It is not ruthless, it is just mis-hit the ball and then hit slightly the shin of the other player... I don’t know exactly what we have to do, but we should talk about it again.”
The Reds took a 3-1 lead just four minutes after they were reduced to 10 men. Neto spilt a Szoboszlai shot from outside the box, allowing Jota a simple finish into the net.
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola told Sky Sports: “In the first half we played very good and started really well and competed. The penalty was too soft.
“The key was the third goal after they were playing with 10. We had chances to score a second but the third goal kept us out of the game.”
In another game, Brighton & Hove Albion continued their perfect start with a 4-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, with Kaoru Mitoma scoring an early Goal of the Season contender with a slaloming run and finish.
