Liverpool went nine points clear at the top of the Premier League with a clinical 2-0 win at in-form Bournemouth on Saturday, with Mohamed Salah stealing the show once again as he netted a double.
Both teams came into this game in superb form after Bournemouth thumped Newcastle 4-1 and then demolished high-flyers Nottingham Forest 5-0, while Liverpool thrashed Ipswich Town 4-1 last time out.
And it was Bournemouth who started on the front foot, with their superb attacking trio on song again as the in-form Antoine Semenyo rounded off a brilliant move by hitting an effort against the foot of the post.
But it wasn’t long before Liverpool broke the deadlock after Cody Gakpo was clipped inside the box by Lewis Cook. Salah made no mistake from the spot, calmly slotting in the bottom right-hand corner.
Bournemouth easily could have been level again in the second half after Justin Kluivert blazed wide from an open goal after Marcus Tavernier hit the post – and Salah made them pay minutes later with a superb finish to make it two.
Here are Mirror Football‘s talking points from the Vitality Stadium.
Salah continues making history
Salah might have been a bit nervy when he stepped up to the spot – especially after two of his last four penalty misses came against the Cherries.
But the 32-year-old was cool as a cucumber from 12-yard as Bournemouth keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga was unable to get a hand to his effort as Liverpool went 1-0 up.
He then netted a superb finish in the second half, which takes him to 21 goals for the season. That means he has joined an elite club of legendary Premier League players who have scored 20+ goals in five seasons, along with the likes of Alan Shearer, Sergio Aguero, Thierry Henry and Harry Kane.
It was also his 178th Premier League goal, which puts him above Frank Lampard in the all-time scorers list in sixth place.
Salah might well depart Liverpool at the end of the season, but he’s certainly going to go out with a bang and possibly break a few more records en route.
VAR drama
It’s not a Premier League clash without some VAR drama to feast upon, and while the officials at Stockley Park usually end up in the headlines for the wrong reasons – VAR chiefs got both of the first major decisions correct at the Vitality.
For Liverpool’s penalty, VAR spent a little bit of time checking to make sure a penalty was the right call after Gakpo was felled in the box, with officials agreeing that Cook did catch the Dutchman as he swung a leg out while charging back to stop him.
Once that incident was cleared, VAR officials then checked to make sure that Gakpo was onside in the build-up.
The Premier League confirmed: “The referee’s call of penalty was checked and confirmed by VAR – with the challenge deemed to have been a trip by Cook on Gakpo. The VAR also confirmed Gakpo was onside in the build-up.”
That wasn’t the end of the VAR scrutiny, however, as Bournemouth got level through David Brooks, who tapped home from Milos Kerkez’s cross. However, VAR looked at that too and after brief check, determined that Kerkez was just offside before supplying the cross.
Liverpool’s infamous referee reunion
Liverpool will be relieved that VAR got things spot on during their game against Bournemouth seeing as a referee who earned the wrath of supporters made his return to a Reds game.
Fans might remember Darren England, who was the VAR overseeing the farcical overturning of Luis Diaz’s goal against Tottenham last season.
England and Dan Cook were in charge of checking the goal and failed to draw offside lines to see if the Colombian was on or off.
England appeared to be blacklisted from Liverpool games for the rest of the 2023-24 season and this was the first game he had refereed since.
His previous Liverpool game before this was in May 2023 – and some fans might have been dubious about the announcement he would be the man in the middle here.
Bournemouth run out of steam
Before this game, Andoni Iraola had been absolutely steamrollering their opponents and there had been fears Liverpool could be their next victims coming into this game.
But while Bournemouth showed flashes of impressive plays at the start of this game, the Cherries weren’t the same team that demolished Nottingham Forest 5-0 and this was clearly a huge step up in opposition.
Before Saturday’s clash, Justin Kluivert had scored six goals in four games, while Semenyo had been involved in a goal for the last four games and Dango Ouattara netted a hat-trick against Forest last time out.
But while Semenyo hit the post with an effort in the first half, the rest of Bournemouth’s key attacking personnel couldn’t get into their groove as Liverpool defenders Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate frustrated.
There was another key moment in the second half as Bournemouth hit the post again through Marcus Tavernier struck the post but Kluivert surprisingly blazed wide with the goal gaping from the rebound. It was a shocking miss from a man in such good form.
After some relentless football in recent weeks, perhaps the Cherries finally ran out of steam here when it really mattered.
Trent injury concern
Liverpool have been pretty lucky with injuries this season, which has played a huge role in their charge towards the top of the Premier League, but there was some concern for the England defender after he hobbled off injured.
Conor Bradley was brought on for the rest of the game, with fans hoping that Slot only took him off as a precaution.
The substitution was made in the 70th minute and Liverpool will now wait for the dust to settle to see how severe his injury is.
Alexander-Arnold’s future is up in the air, with his contract expiring at the end of the season – and he has been linked with a free transfer to Real Madrid.
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