Bournemouth 1-0 Liverpool | Premier League | Match report & summary

Bournemouth took a huge step towards survival with a win over Liverpool at the Vitality Stadium, with a goal from midfielder Philip Billing enough to claim all three points for the home side. Liverpool, for all their dominance, were unable to capitalise and a Mo Salah penalty was sent high and wide in the second half that now sees The Reds drop points for the 14th time this season.

Fresh off the back of the frankly ludicrous 7-0 win over Manchester United, Jürgen Klopp’s side lined up on the south coast with the intention of putting more pressure on the top four, and almost 70% possession yielded 6 shots on target; Neto’s first save came from a Salah shot after just 5 minutes.

Liverpool started brightly, with 4 more shots in the next 8 minutes, some blocked, some saved, some incredibly close, like Van Dijk’s header from a corner. Gakpo then had a goal ruled out for offside. Dango Ouattara, arguably Bournemouth’s player of the match, had an attempt from the right in what was The Cherries’ first breather of the game. So far, so good for Liverpool.

However, the only shot on target for the home side came just before the half-hour mark, with Bournemouth taking advantage of a shocking defensive effort from Van Dijk, in which he allowed a ball over the top to find Ouattara. The winger ran down the right side and managed to put a low drive across goal which Billing tapped past Alisson.

Neither Alexander-Arnold nor Ibrahima Konaté saw the run from the midfielder as he made his way into the danger area, and the simple ball from the right was placed well enough for the Dane to find the goal.

Shooting for the stars

A lifeline was awarded to Liverpool after a handball in the box, and Mo Salah stepped up to put Liverpool back in the race for fourth place. But his shot was high and wide, and the Bournemouth fans celebrated gleefully as the Egyptian looked skywards for an explanation. It was his first penalty to not hit the target in the Premier League.

Neto excellence

The Brazilian between the Bournemouth sticks was the highest rated player as per Sofascore, with 5 saves and an overall score of 8.0. The away side created 4 big chances and missed them all, meaning they now sit 6 points away from Spurs, who are in 4th place.

Bournemouth, for their part, are now out of the relegation zone, yet they still depend on other results, those of West Ham and Leeds United, going their way. Gary O’Neil’s side almost did the impossible against Arsenal and actually managed it against Liverpool, who may just be the Premier League’s most confusing side this year.