Liverpool 2-1 Bournemouth report: Salah and Mane get Liverpool back to winning ways
Goals from Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane helped Liverpool comeback against relegation threatened Bournemouth to return to winning ways and move to within three wins of their first Premier League title.
Salah's 80th goal on his 100th Premier League appearance made him the first Liverpool player since Michael Owen in 2002-03 to score 20-plus goals in three successive seasons while Sadio Mane's coolly-taken effort turned around Bournemouth's controversial early lead, given to them by Callum Wilson.
Salah's strike, his 16th in the league this season, also took him past Luis Suarez as the club's leading overseas scorer in the top flight.
The win ended a run of three defeats in four matches in all competitions and was the ideal morale-booster before Wednesday's pivotal Champions League last-16 tie at home to Atletico Madrid, in which they trail 1-0 after the first leg.
Liverpool's bright start belied their recent difficulties but somehow they still went behind.
On this occasion, however, Klopp got the desired response which was missing against Atletico, Watford and Chelsea.
There was more than a whiff of a foul when Wilson appeared to shove Joe Gomez, who he targeted physically all game, but referee Paul Tierney started as he was to go on and allowed play to continue.
That ultimately resulted in Jefferson Lerma crossing for Wilson to sidefoot home, and when VAR did not come to Liverpool's salvation Klopp was apoplectic.
It was the fourth time in the last five matches his side had conceded the first goal, having not gone behind in the previous 14 - excluding the youth team's League Cup defeat at Aston Villa.
With an unexpected lead Bournemouth sought to capitalise and Nathan Ake's header was pushed onto the crossbar by Adrian.
Unlike in previous weeks, Liverpool found a response and turned the match around in an eight-minute spell.
An injury to centre-back Steve Cook had a hugely disruptive effect on the visitors as his replacement Jack Simpson was like a rabbit caught in the headlights as he dithered before trying to dribble past Mane just 15 yards outside his own penalty area.
The Senegal forward easily nicked the ball, and while his pass to Salah was behind his team-mate and left him with more to do than he would have liked, the Egyptian quickly recovered control to tuck a shot inside Aaron Ramsdale's left-hand post.
It was Salah's eight goal in six appearances against the Cherries, scoring in every game, his 14th in as many Premier League matches at Anfield and ended Liverpool's longest goal drought (124 minutes) since February 2019.
Mane put them ahead when Virgil Van Dijk's interception and through-ball sent the unmarked Mane clear bend a shot past Ramsdale, and James Milner should have made it three but his cushioned shot from Salah's cross carried neither the weight nor direction to trouble the goalkeeper.
Further Milner intervention in front of that same goal, albeit in the second half, prevented his side conceding an equaliser as Ryan Fraser's lob over Adrian was certain to go in until the 34-year-old midfielder, playing at left-back after Andy Robertson was rested as a precaution, raced back to clear two yards out.
With Liverpool only threatening in fits and spurts, Mane's first-time shot from 30 yards deserved a goal but rebounded back off the angle, while Ramsdale's fingertips kept out Salah's near-post effort.
Klopp sending a message to his players by furiously jabbing his temples with both index fingers showed how conscious he was of the need to see out the final 10 minutes.
The return of Klopp's three fist pumps to the Kop - and then again to the Main Stand - was a release of his pent-up frustration as much as a celebration.
By contrast Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe trudged down the tunnel after a ninth defeat in 10 away games, a run of just three victories in 18 league matches leaving them stuck in 18th and in real danger of being relegated.
OPTA STATS
- Liverpool have now won their last 22 Premier League home games, the longest such winning run in English top-flight history.
- Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 55 Premier League matches at Anfield (W45 D10) – only Chelsea between 2004-2008 (86 games) have had a longer unbeaten run at home in Premier League history.
- Since the start of last season, Bournemouth have lost more Premier League away games than any other side (24).
- Bournemouth have lost all eight of their Premier League matches against teams starting the day in first place by an aggregate score of 4-27.
- Mohamed Salah is the first Liverpool player to score 20+ goals in all competitions in three consecutive seasons since Michael Owen did so between 2000-01 and 2002-03.
- Mohamed Salah has scored 70 goals in his 100 Premier League appearances for Liverpool, seven more than any other player in their first 100 for the club (Fernando Torres, 63). In fact, only Alan Shearer with Blackburn (79 goals) has netted more goals in his first 100 PL apps for a single club in the competition’s history than Salah with Liverpool.
- Liverpool’s Sadio Mane has had a hand in six goals in his last four Premier League starts against Bournemouth (4 goals, 2 assists).
- Callum Wilson's opener was the first Premier League goal Bournemouth have scored against Liverpool since April 2017 (Josh King), ending a run of 17 consecutive goals scored by the Reds in this fixture.
Relive our live blog
Liverpool 2-1 Bournemouth
Liverpool: Salah (25); Mane (33)
Bournemouth: Callum Wilson (9)
FT: Liverpool 2-1 Bournemouth
Liverpool make it a record breaking 22 home wins in a row, having won all 15 at Anfield this season
That's 15 points clear with nine games left to play. Three more wins takes the title
Crisis, what crisis
92: Yellow card
Callum Wilson is yellow carded for a late tackle
91: Firmino over
Firmino is put in by Salah's cross and fires over from close range
90: Injury time
Four minutes added on
89: Huge Bournemouth chance
Bournemouth free kick on the right, Liverpool half clear and try to counter. Bournemouth win straight back and Ake is slotted in on goal one-on-one with Adrian.
He should just shoot and score, but he squares it to Wilson for a tap in, but the England man makes a mess of it and can't finish, he was offside too.
If Ake had shot himself and scored it would have countered
87: Billing back on
But he doesn't look comfortable or very mobile
84: Billing down
Billing takes a painful knee to the buttocks from his own player and is down for a good period of time and has to hobble off. He is on the sideline trying to get back on the field, but the visitors are down to 10 for now
83: Liverpool sub
Liverpool make their first sub with Lallana on and Oxlade-Chamberlain off
81: Bournemouth sub
Lerma is off for Bournemouth, to be replaced by Gosling.
76: Salah close again
Gomez gets the ball into Salah, who twists and turns on the edge of the box, comes in on his left foot and aims for the bottom corner, with Ramsdale having to get down low quickly to tip wide.
73: Mane hits crossbar
Wow, what an effort from Mane. First time hit from the left edge of the box curling into top far corner. It smashes the woodwork and bounces away
72: Firmino across goal
More like it from Liverpool as they spark into life and attack down the right. Firmino chips in Salah, Ake heads away and it falls back to Firmino, whose first touch is stunning and then he drives across goal and Mane just misses it at the back post
70: Solanke against his old club
He's not had a great time since leaving Anfield, but could a return to Liverpool inspire a goal scoring run?
67: Bournemouth sub
Stanislas, who has had a decent game, is off and Solanke is on against his former club
65: Van Dijk header
Corner from the right delivered to the back post and Van Dijk meets it with a meaty head, but Ramsdale is close enough to his far post to dive to his right and collect
60: Milner off the line
Oh, Bournemouth millimetres away from a shocker equaliser.
Liverpool's centre-backs are asleep and Fraser sneaks through to collected a chipped pass. Adrian comes out but is beaten to the ball as Fraser chips over him and the ball loops towards the empty net. Milner comes from nowhere and stretches a leg out to volley the ball off the line and away. Wonderful defending
55: Pace lacking
After that early second half dominance, the pace and accuracy of Liverpool's attacks have just decrease and it means for all their possession, they've failed to create a clear chance in the second half. They've had 78 per cent possession since we restarted.
48: All Liverpool
The hosts are aiming to get this game wrapped up ASAP so they can start resting up for Atletico Madrid in midweek.
So they are throwing everything at the visitors. One corner has been cleared and then Oxlade-Chamberlain's shot 25 yards out is blocked. Bournemouth have not got out of their own half yet.
Second half
We are back underway at Anfield
SKY BET PRICE BOOST
At half-time Sky Bet have Price Boosted:
- Salah to score a brace is 7/4
- Mane to score a brace is 2/1
- Liverpool to win 4-1 is 9/2
Sporting Life ACCA
Head here to back Charlton, Stoke, Coventry & Cheltenham all to win enhanced to 28/1 with Sky Bet
CHARLTON are backed to get the better of Middlesbrough as they meet at the Valley. Lee Bowyer's men are the outsiders in the betting but they've won two of their last three at home, whereas Boro have the third-worst away record in the division.
STOKE welcome struggling Hull. The Tigers have failed to win any of their last eleven games in all competitions while Stoke have lost just one of their last eight at home.
COVENTRY are fancied to get the better of Ipswich despite being the away side. The current leaders have the third-best away record in the division having won their last three league games on the road. Ipswich are currently enduring a three-game losing run.
CHELTENHAM next week but we're starting a little early by backing them for success at home to Port Vale. A five game winning run, with six wins in their last seven, has fired them into fifth in Sky Bet League Two.
Half-time stats
Possession: Liverpool 72% v 28% Bournemouth
Shots on target: Liverpool 4 v 3 Bournemouth
Passes: Liverpool 342 v 130 Bournemouth
Pass success: Liverpool 83% v 62% Bournemouth
Corners: Liverpool 3 v 4 Bournemouth
Salah stat
I like this stat and hard to believe it has taken so long for it to happen again for Liverpool.
Mo Salah is the first Liverpool player to hit 20 goals in all competitions for three consecutive seasons since Michael Owen in 2003
HT: Liverpool 2-1 Bournemouth
Rollercoaster of emotions for the Liverpool fans in the first half. You could literally hear a pin drop when the visitors went into a shock lead, especially as they felt the goal should have been ruled out for a foul in the buildup.
But they are much happier now with Liverpool taking advantage of two Bournemouth mistakes to retake control. Did you take our pre-match tip for Salah to score anytime?
45: Injury time
Four minutes added, as Liverpool come forward looking for a third
40: Over 5.5 goals?
Seems a big shout at this stage, but Liverpool only need another three for this to come off and Milner almost added the third a moment ago.
Added to this, the visitors will fancy another with Adrian looking so dodgy in net.
We've had seven shots on target in total in this game.
Over 5.5 goals is 8/5 now with Sky Bet
Only thing to consider he is that Liverpool could take it easy in the second half ahead of their huge Champions League contest in midweek
39: Adrian save
Stanislas obviously watched the Chelsea game in midweek and fires from distance at Adrian, hoping for another misjudge from the keeper.
Adrian is taking no chances and palms the ball away when it was easy to hold in his gut. Clearly he was taking no chances and just wanted to get he ball away. It did the job to be fair to him
37: Milner volleys at goal
Nearly a third for Liverpool
Salah floats a glorious diagonal out to Milner, who evades the offside trap brilliantly, but his first-time volley sails straight into the arms of Ramsdale.
33: GOAL: Liverpool 2-1 Bournemouth
Mane
Liverpool lead and again Bournemouth have not helped themselves here.
The visitors try to counter attack and throw bodies forward quickly, but they lose the ball on halfway, and Van Dijk collects. He plays a simple quick ball through the middle to the unmarked Mane who races in and coolly curls the ball into the far right corner.
Great vision from Van Dijk and calm finish from Mane.
Order restored for the Premier League leaders
27: Simpson off the line
Simpson atones for his error as he clears the ball off the line.
Liverpool get into the box again and onto the right byline, cross by Alexander-Arnold looks destined for Mane at the back post to tap in literally on the line, but Simpson gets back and flicks it away when he could have easily knocked it into his own net
25: GOAL: Liverpool 1-1 Bournemouth
Mo Salah gets Anfield rocking again.
Bournemouth have shot themselves in the foot. They play is around the back and sub Simpson gets caught with the ball by Wijnaldum.
The Liverpool man drives into the box, draws the defender and unselfishly passes to the right to Salah. However it is a poor pass behind the striker and it looks like the chance has gone.
But Salah stops, collects, spins, shuffles inside and fires low into the bottom corner. Great finish
GOAL HIGHLIGHT
This is how Bournemouth stunned Anfield. It's now 17-1 to Liverpool on aggregate
18: Bournemouth sub
Bad news for the visitors, captain Steve Cook hooks the ball away from Ramsdale's save but pulls a muscle in doing so.
After lengthy treatment he has to go off and is replaced by Simpson
17: Ramsdale save
Liverpool finally create their first clear cut chance. A long ball over the top sees Firmino in around the back of the Bournemouth defence and eight yards out he volleys at goal. Ramsdale out quickly and blocks it.
16: Bournemouth attack again
The visitors have their tails up here and they are having a right go at Liverpool now, who seem to lack any defenders when the are without the ball.
Wilson drives forward down the left and slips a through ball to the onrushing Billing.
A deflection off a Liverpool foot ensures it just runs through to the keeper, but without the deflection Billing would have collected it and been in one-on-one
14: Adrian big save
Bournemouth almost have a second. Corner from the right and Ake raises highest and thumps a header at goal. Luckily for Liverpool it is right at keeper Adrian and he just about reacts in time to palm the ball over for another corner.
Liverpool clear this one.
09: GOAL: Liverpool 0-1 Bournemouth
C. Wilson
Liverpool are behind again, with Bournemouth's first attack of the game. VAR checking for a foul though. Goal given!
Anfield has literally been silenced. Wilson is stronger than Gomez to knock him off the ball as they both chase a long pass and Liverpool players half stop for a foul. Play continues and he gets it to Billing on the right edge of the box. He cleverly moves inside, but back heels the ball right and into the path of Lerma, as he rushes into the box unmarked. He crosses across the six yard box and Wilson is there to tap in at the far post into an empty net
06: Salah offside
Liverpool get the ball to the right again and Alexander-Arnold chips it in under the crossbar. Salah jumps, but is beaten to it by Ake, who heads out for a corner. But the striker was offside.
Moments later, Ramsdale is off his line and out of his box again quickly to smash the ball out for a throw-in as Alexander-Arnold raced onto the through ball.
04: Early pattern
It is going how we'd expect early on. Bournemouth yet to touch the ball, as Liverpool pass it around nicely. They are moving from right to left and back again, but most of it is on the halfway line, as the visitors get behind the ball playing 4-5-1 and working hard to limit the space.
Liverpool do eventually get in a crossing position on the right, but Ake is there at the near post to thump the low ball away with ease
01: Liverpool go long
Liverpool on the front foot as Van Dijk's lofts ball over the Bournemouth defence is pursued by Salah, but Ramsdale races off his line to gather quickly
1230: Kick-off
As we get underway a reminder of the teams.
Liverpool: Adrian, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Milner, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Salah, Firmino, Mane. Subs: Lonergan, Keita, Minamino, Lallana, Origi, Matip, Williams.
Bournemouth: Ramsdale, Stacey, S Cook, Ake, Smith, Billing, Lerma, L Cook, Fraser, Stanislas, Wilson. Subs: Boruc, Gosling, Surman, Solanke, Rico, Simpson, Surridge.
Referee: Paul Tierney
Commentary, highlights and in-play odds, tips and stats to come
1225: Motivation Milner
James Milner starts today and is giving his teammates a big team talk
1220: Pre-match tip
Mohamed Salah is going through his worst goal scoring patch of the season - scoring just one in the last five in all competitions. Not bad for most players, but terrible by Salah's high standard.
Could he be back on the scoreboard today? Well, he's scored in all five matches he's played against Bournemouth and 87 per cent of his league goals have been scored at home (13/15).
1215: Another upset
All these stats, the form and the league positions suggest a Liverpool win and a comfortable one at that. But didn't we all think that seven days ago as Liverpool headed to Watford and look what happened!
1210: Bournemouth cannot score..
... Well, against Liverpool anyway. The last 17 goals scored in this Premier League fixture have been scored by Liverpool - the only side Liverpool have scored more consecutive goals against without reply is West Bromwich Albion (26 between 2002-2011).
Liverpool to win to nil is 6/5
Added to this Bournemouth are winless in all eight Premier League games on Merseyside against Everton and Liverpool (D1 L7); the only team to play more times without winning there are Hull City (10 games).
SOCCER SATURDAY PRICE BOOST
Another busy Saturday ahead and Sky Bet have Price Boosted:
- Wolves, Leeds & Sheffield Utd all to win is 7/2
- Wolves & Leeds to win and Sheffield Utd to draw with Norwich is 9/1
- Wolves, Leeds & Norwich all to win is 14/1
1146: Match stats
Each of Liverpool's last five Premier League wins against Bournemouth have been by at least three goals - the only team in top-flight history to win by 3+ goals in six consecutive games against an opponent is Man City against Wolves between 1902 and 1905.
If you think it will happen again today, then Liverpool are 4/5 to score three plus goals and 6/4 to win by a margin of three or more goals with Sky Bet - full markets here
1135: Bournemouth team news
Our pre-match booking tip Jack Stacey starts for the visitors, while Junior Stanislas replacing the injured Joshua King in attack.
Bournemouth: Ramsdale, Stacey, S Cook, Ake, Smith, Billing, Lerma, L Cook, Fraser, Stanislas, Wilson.
Subs: Boruc, Gosling, Surman, Solanke, Rico, Simpson, Surridge.
1131: Liverpool team news
Andrew Robertson misses his first league game of the season for the champions-elect. Looks like James Milner will go into the full-back role
Liverpool: Adrian, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Milner, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Salah, Firmino, Mane.
Subs: Lonergan, Keita, Minamino, Lallana, Origi, Matip, Williams.
1130: Pre-match tip
Our Premier League expert George Pitts has been casting his eye on this one and is going for...
Jack Stacey impressed at right-back against Chelsea last weekend and should keep his place in the side. But facing Liverpool is another level, with Andrew Robertson, Sadio Mane and another midfielder coming at you in waves down their left-hand side.
The 23-year-old, a summer arrival from Luton, has just two bookings to his name this term, both away from home (one came at Arsenal), and in a big game like this he could easily get caught out by referee Paul Tierney.
With this, and the 7/1 best price in mind, a small play on Stacey to be carded looks worth chancing.
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Odds correct at time of publication on 07/03/2020
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