Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admitted that his side were “horrible” in the opening exchanges of their home win over Bournemouth in the Premier League.
The Reds recovered from going a goal down after just two minutes to win 3-1, with the goals coming from Luis Diaz, Mo Salah and Diogo Jota. Antoine Semenya gave the visitors their surprise lead.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the final whistle, Klopp said: “Horrible start. Horrible start to the game. I thought the first goal we conceded was offside and a wake up call. OK, you take that.
“And then a minute later we conceded a regular goal which is not cool. We needed a few minutes to shake it off and then we were really good. We scored two goals which was really good.
“The second half it changed completely because all of a sudden we were 10 men but scored the third goal, which is very important in this moment. It gave us energy.
“It is second match day and tough. It was surprisingly hot today so it was really intense for the boys but we fought through that and didn’t concede anymore, got the three points and that is all that I need.”
Klopp was pleased to see his team react in the right way after being outplayed by Chelsea last Sunday, although he admitted it was “tough” for Liverpool after Alexis McAllister was sent off just before the hour mark.
“[The poor start] gave the opposition a massive boost and they started super front-footed. When we found our way into the game we played in areas we had to play and we were calm, which is good,” he said.
“I said after Chelsea, after we conceded I saw us getting into a rush. I did not see that today. We found our way back into it and played the game we wanted. We scored two and had more chances. After 58 minutes the red card and after that it was tough for both teams, but for sure the team with a man less.”
Bournemouth found the net inside the first two minutes of the game, but it was ruled offside. They didn’t have to wait long to find a legitimate goal, however, taking advantage of Liverpool’s disorganisation to score through Semenya.
Diaz levelled matters with a superb volley in the 27th minute, before Salah was handed the opportunity to give the hosts the lead when Dominik Szoboszlai was brought down in the box.
The Egyptian saw his initial effort saved by Neto, but tapped home the rebound. Jota capped off his impressive performance with a goal just minutes after McAllister was given his marching orders.
