Bournemouth defeated Liverpool 3-2 Saturday to move up to 13th place, while Liverpool’s position in the top four is now perilous ahead of Sunday’s fixtures.
Bournemouth hit the front against the run of play. Marcos Senesi‘s searching pass was misjudged by Van Dijk whose lazy attempted clearance fell for Alex Scott, and he cut back for Evanilson to drill home.
Van Dijk was partly at fault as Bournemouth doubled their lead seven minutes later, with the Dutchman playing his opponent onside as Jimenez raced onto James Hill‘s pass.
Yet Van Dijk atoned in the 45th minute, as he diverted Szoboszlai’s corner in via his shoulder.
Jimenez was perhaps fortunate that Liverpool substitute Rio Ngumoha stayed on his feet after a clumsy challenge from the full-back in the hosts’ penalty area. However, the teenage attacker later won a free-kick for the visitors as the final 10 minutes of normal time approached.
From the resulting free-kick, Mohamed Salah flicked the ball to Szoboszlai, whose curling finish beat Bournemouth goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic.
Liverpool thought that would be enough to snatch a point, with those hopes reinforced when Evanilson dragged wide with only Alisson to beat, yet deep in stoppage time, Arne Slot’s team failed to defend a long throw, with Adli able to finish at the second attempt to spark wild celebrations.
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Van Dijk may have scored, but the Liverpool captain is unlikely to look back at this game with any fondness.
He was at least partly responsible for each of Bournemouth’s goals in the first half, as he switched off twice, though Alisson also seemed to be venting his anger at Slot and the coaching staff after the Cherries’ second goal.
That was because they had dallied in making a substitution after Joe Gomez had suffered an injury while trying to prevent Bournemouth’s opener, leaving Liverpool’s defence weakened.
Yet even when Wataru Endo and, later, Andy Robertson – who has been linked with a move away from Anfield – did come on, Liverpool’s backline consistently struggled.
Straight after seeing Szoboszlai score at the other end, Liverpool fell asleep at the back, allowing Ryan Christie to test Alisson before Evanilson got in behind, only to miss from close range.
Liverpool did not heed those warnings, though, and panicked defending right at the death cost them dearly, as their long unbeaten run came to an end.
They will now look to get back on track against Newcastle United next week, though the Magpies could actually be ahead of the Reds in the standings by the time that fixture comes around.
Bournemouth no longer have the magic of Semenyo to rely on, but this is a team unit, and ahead of facing 20th-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers next week, the Cherries can certainly look up the table, rather than worrying about checking over their shoulders. They are now only six points behind Liverpool.
What the managers said
Andoni Iraola: “It is a massive win for us because we were in a difficult situation, especially last week in terms of numbers and in defensive players.
“We are finding ways to get points against difficult opposition. I am very proud of the team and what we are doing. We are adapting and we are getting good points.”
Arne Slot: “Although we were 2-0 down at a certain point, it’s a good comeback, although it didn’t feel to me that we deserved to be 2-0 down at the moment we were, but the players reacted really well. We came back to 2-2 and then I thought it was a very open game where both teams had their chances.
“They probably [had] even more than us which shouldn’t come as a complete surprise to me knowing that we’ve played two days before in Marseille and for the last four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 games we’ve had to play with the same players for the players we had available and then sometimes a few of them could be at the end of the game a bit tired. I think that’s what you could see at the end today as well.”
BBC
