Liverpool’s hopes of finishing in the top four took a hit tonight after they slipped to a 1-0 defeat away at relegation-threatened Bournemouth.
Jurgen Klopp’s men came into today’s fixture full of confidence after their sensational 7-0 win over bitter rivals Man United last weekend and knowing that they hammered the Cherries 9-0 earlier this season.
Liverpool duly started brightly and Jefferson Lerma had to head off the line after Virgil van Dijk rose highest to meet a corner early on.
Although it was obvious that the home side was struggling to contain Liverpool’s front three of Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo Bournemouth looked dangerous with the impressive Dango Ouattara looking a constant menace on the break.
It was no great surprise then that when Bournemouth did take the lead Ouattara was central to the goal. The Burkina Faso international latched onto an Adam Smith ball in behind before outpacing Van Dijk down the outside and when he crossed Phillip Billing was there to bundle home from the edge of the six-yard box.
Liverpool predictably piled on the pressure in the second-half but struggled to make Bournemouth’s keeper Neto into much work despite their dominance.
The Reds were handed a golden opportunity to equalise with 20 minutes to play when they awarded a penalty for a Smith handball, but their record Premier League goalscorer Salah stepped up and blazed high and wide.
Klopp had warned before the game that Bournemouth would ‘fight like crazy‘ to get something from the game, and Gary O’Neil will have been delighted with the defensive resolve his side showed to hold out for three much-needed points.
Speaking afterwards Klopp pretty much admitted that his side had simply not been good enough on the day.
“What can I say? It was never really our game,” Klopp told BT Sport.
”We were dominant in the first half but mostly we put ball in at the wrong moment against a compact side.
“They had their counter-attacks they wanted to have. I really think the spaces we had to play were super clear, super open.
“The rest was more or less busy with covering other spaces, we didn’t use that often enough, didn’t enjoy the challenge to face a deep, compact side. It’s clear we cannot get through with all the balls but it was like we didn’t get through and things didn’t work out. Little things witch make a massive difference and then we go 1-0 down, not helpful obviously in the counter-attack.
For the first time ever, Mo Salah failed to hit the target with a penalty in the Premier League.
Yikes. pic.twitter.com/29ofPyburS
— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 11, 2023
“They did the same stuff but it was successful enough because we didn’t defend it well and then I thought we started pretty well in the second half and then got the penalty and we missed it and after that we were in a real rush and didn’t create enough really and that’s it.”
