Liverpool moved nine points clear at the top of the Premier League as Mohamed Salah scored both goals in their hard-fought 2-0 victory at AFC Bournemouth.
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Salah converted a penalty after Lewis Cook tripped Cody Gakpo in the first half, then bent a wonderful finish into the far corner to make the points safe with 15 minutes to play.
Bournemouth entered Saturday's match unbeaten in 11 Premier League outings while Liverpool had gone 18 without losing, and the Cherries made the leaders work for their win.
David Brooks had a strike disallowed for a marginal offside decision and Justin Kluivert shot wide of an open goal in the second half, as the hosts lost for the first time since November.
Liverpool added to their advantage over Arsenal – who face Manchester City on Sunday – and Nottingham Forest, while Bournemouth stay seventh on 40 points.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
23 | +35 | 56 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
23 | +23 | 47 |
| 3 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
24 | +13 | 47 |
| 4 |
Man City
MCI
|
23 | +17 | 41 |
| 5 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
24 | +13 | 41 |
How the match unfolded
Antoine Semenyo tested Alisson inside 12 seconds as Bournemouth started brightly, with the winger also rattling the near post with a ferocious left-footed effort in the 20th minute.
Liverpool went ahead in the 30th minute as Gakpo went down in the area after being tripped by Cook, with the penalty confirmed following a VAR review that checked both the foul and a possible offside.
The wait did not faze Salah, who tucked his kick into the bottom-right corner.
Bournemouth continued to press, though, and Brooks drilled in an equaliser only to be denied by an offside call against Milos Kerkez, which was confirmed following a VAR review.
The hosts did not let up in the second half, with Alisson making a close-range stop from Semenyo before Bournemouth missed their best chance to level in the 70th minute. Substitute Marcus Tavernier struck the post from distance, and in-form forward Kluivert somehow skewed wide of an open goal on the rebound.
Salah then punished that miss with a curling finish from the right side of the area, making sure of Liverpool's third straight Premier League win.
Cherries fall just short
Bournemouth's second season under Andoni Iraola has featured many high points, but perhaps last week's 5-0 thrashing of high-flying Nottingham Forest – a result accomplished without injured strikers Evanilson and Enes Unal – was the pick of the bunch.
Over the previous 11 Premier League matchdays, no team had won more points than Bournemouth's 25, and both Man City and Arsenal had already been beaten at the Vitality Stadium this season.
They were always likely to present a challenge to Liverpool, and they did exactly that. In the early stages, Alisson was rooted to the spot when Semenyo fired off an effort from the corner of the six-yard box, but the leaders were fortunate to see the ball smash the upright and bounce clear.
It was ultimately the fine margins that decided this contest. After Gakpo had stayed marginally onside to win a penalty at one end, Kerkez was off by the length of a boot at the other, costing Brooks a potential equaliser.
Then, within five minutes of Kluivert producing one of the misses of the season in the second half, Salah's unerring finish put the contest beyond Bournemouth.
There were plenty of positives for Iraola to take, though. Should the Cherries perform similarly in their upcoming games against Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers, they will be confident of regaining their momentum.
Rested Reds led by Salah
With Liverpool having sealed qualification for the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League with a game to spare, Arne Slot used Wednesday's trip to PSV as an opportunity to shuffle his pack, leaving Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and several other big names at home.
Resting those key players proved a wise decision as Liverpool were forced to contend with Bournemouth's all-action, vertical approach.
They were a tad fortunate to see Bournemouth pass up several golden opportunities, with the woodwork also coming to the Reds' aid on two occasions.
But winning without playing well is often said to be a mark of champions, and with Salah in fine form, Liverpool always have a chance. Salah's double took him to 25 goals for the season in all competitions, with 21 of those coming in the Premier League.
He has now surpassed the 20-goal mark in five different Premier League campaigns, with only Alan Shearer (seven), Sergio Aguero and Harry Kane (both six) doing so on more occasions.
Liverpool continue to grind out results courtesy of their Egyptian superstar, and with the rescheduled Merseyside derby to come in 11 days' time, they will sense a chance to pull clear in the title race.
Club reports
Bournemouth report | Liverpool report
What the managers said
Andoni Iraola: "Disappointed when you lose a game. Small things that didn't go for us. We have given ourselves a chance, but it hasn't been enough. Key moments, you can score and make the difference. But we have not scored and at the end, against teams like Liverpool, you need to punish them whenever you have the chance."
Arne Slot: "Exactly the game we expected. They’re so intense and they keep running every second. I said before the game when we were 3-0 up at Anfield at half-time they kept on running. We had to play on top of our abilities and we needed a bit of luck to win this game. They were constantly trying to do things. I didn't think we controlled the game.”
Next PL fixtures
Key facts
Liverpool extended their unbeaten run in the league to 19 games (W14 D5), while away from home the Reds are unbeaten in 14 in the Premier League (W9 D5); only from January 2019 to February 2020 (21) have they had a longer run without defeat on the road in the competition.
Bournemouth suffered their first Premier League defeat since November against Brighton, ending their 11-game unbeaten run in the competition (W7 D4). Indeed, the Cherries have only lost two league games by 2+ goals this season – both of which have been to Liverpool (3-0 in September, 2-0 today).
Mohamed Salah scored the 300th and 301st goals of his European club career in all competitions, 236 of which have come for Liverpool (20 Basel, 2 Chelsea, 9 Fiorentina, 34 Roma). The Egyptian also reached 20+ Premier League goals in a single season for the fifth time (also 2017-18, 2018-19, 2020-21, and 2021-22).
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has now scored 11 Premier League goals against Bournemouth, the seventh side he’s scored 10+ against in the competition. Only Alan Shearer (12) has netted double figures against more different opponents in Premier League history.
