This was always going to be a tricky one. Bournemouth were 11 league games unbeaten before this game, with some impressive wins recently. What a win this was for the Reds!
Liverpool chances and a soft penalty?
Our first real chance came after 23 minutes, after good work from Gravenberch in his half to win the ball off Semenyo. This opened the game up, and after a couple of passes, Gakpo found himself with the ball in a decent position. After he cleverly avoided a tackle from Zabarnyi, he played Szoboszlai through, whose shot was saved by Kepa.
Now, the big talking point from the game, was it a penalty? My short and simple answer is yes, of course it fucking was. Admittedly, at first, I thought it was soft, and there is one angle where it even looks like Gakpo tripped himself up. However, when you watch the replays, it is clear that Cook caught Gakpo, but we know what football fans are like, a lot of people chose not to see that! LiVARpool was trending, I thought we moved past this! Salah, as expected, tucks away the penalty for his 20th league goal this season.
Our second came in the 75th minute. Szobo, as he always does, worked hard to win the ball from Kluivert. Jones found Nunez with a clever pass that opened the game up. The ball eventually ended up with Salah exactly where he wanted it, and we all know what he did next. On the right-hand side of the box, he opened his body up and guided the ball into the top corner. It’s a classic Salah goal.
Bournemouth’s threat going forward.
Scoring 9 in their last two games against Newcastle and Nottingham Forest, my main concern going into this was conceding. I almost accepted the fact that we would concede and was hoping we could limit them to just one. Keeping a clean sheet here is incredibly impressive, especially when you consider the fact that Man City and Arsenal both lost at the Vitality. However, they did have their chances.
I think it’s fair to say that we rode our luck at times. They had 14 shots in total with an xG of 1.58, and their best chance of the game fell to their in-form man, Justin Kluivert, who missed an open goal in the 70th minute, which would’ve made the game 1-1.
The first real chance of the game fell to Kluivert within the first 15 minutes, when a poorly headed clearance from Trent led to the ball eventually falling to the Dutchman who forced a save from Alisson from a tight angle. A few minutes later Semenyo hit the post after some tidy footwork in the penalty area.
The second half brought more Bournemouth chances, and in the 50th minute, Semenyo was again involved, as Bournemouth played some nice football on the right and Christie disguised a pass through to the Ghanaian. Alisson was quick off his line to make a good save.
We got lucky with the Kluivert miss. If that went in with just 20 minutes to go, that could’ve changed the game. Sometimes you need a bit of luck in a title race, but ultimately I think we defended well and Alisson made some good saves, therefore we deserved the clean sheet.
Should Mac Allister have seen red?
On another day, I think Mac Allister could’ve received a second yellow. His first was a yellow, he stopped a counterattack with a clear foul on Quattara. The second, however, is more debatable. I don’t think it is a yellow, but I can see why others think it should’ve been. It’s one of those where the ball sat up nicely for Mac Allister to volley, but as it fell, Brooks got there first, and the Argentine caught the Welshman. It was a foul, no doubt about that, but I don’t like seeing yellow cards for stuff like this. He’s gone to kick the ball and somebody else got there first. There is always going to be a follow-through in this sort of situation, it would be impossible to pull out.
No second yellow for me but I understand the frustration from the home support.
A brilliant win away from home against one of the league’s most in-form sides
This was a big win. I was nervous about this one, they have been in such good form. It was tough, they had their chances, but I think we had enough quality to deserve the win.
Gravenberch, again, was outstanding. On the ball, off the ball, he controlled the midfield. Breaking records has become a regular occurrence for Salah, it seems like he does it every week.
Overall, it was a tricky game, and we got what we deserved. Hopefully, we can keep this up!
