Liverpool 3-0 Bournemouth: Back to business as Luis Diaz stars

Liverpool put their defeat to Nottingham Forest behind them in fine fashion as three first-half goals saw off Bournemouth to the tune of a 3-0 victory.

Liverpool 3-0 Bournemouth

Premier League (5), Anfield
September 21, 2024

Goals

Diaz 27′ (assist – Konate)
Diaz 29′ (assist – Alexander-Arnold)
Nunez 37′ (assist – Salah)

After conceding early to AC Milan in midweek, the Reds looked to have slipped up again as Antoine Semenyo slid home after just four minutes, only for VAR to catch him offside.

That proved to be the spark the Anfield crowd needed, with the atmosphere amping up and Liverpool pushing forward in attack, Andy Robertson going close almost immediately after.

After a long stretch of one-way traffic for the hosts, a mistake from stand-in Caoimhin Kelleher handed Bournemouth another opportunity through Semenyo, but fortunately the Irishman was on hand to bail himself out with a sharp stop.

Liverpool took the lead via route one, with Ibrahima Konate arrowing a ball up for Luis Diaz, whose darting run attracted Kepa Arrizabalaga, and having beaten the advancing goalkeeper the Colombian was able to fire home for 1-0.

Diaz made it 2-0 within a minute, with Liverpool streaming forward, and as the No. 7 drifted into space Trent Alexander-Arnold found him for a simple finish.

Not to be outdone, Darwin Nunez marked his first start of the season with a stunning goal, with Mohamed Salah touching Konate’s long ball through for the Uruguayan, who drove into the box, cut onto his left and curled beyond Kepa.

HT: Liverpool 3-0 Bournemouth

Liverpool took time to find their touch after the restart, but they regained momentum in the engine room, with all three midfielders impressive in tight spaces and Ryan Gravenberch testing Kepa with a powerful long-range strike.

Rotation continued around the hour as a side featuring four changes from midweek saw Dominik Szoboszlai withdrawn and Curtis Jones sent on, with an eye on managing minutes ahead of the visit of West Ham.

The Reds kept pushing for more with some outstanding patterns of play, though Salah and Nunez found themselves getting in each other’s way on a number of occasions.

It was soon time for Federico Chiesa‘s Premier League debut, the Italian replacing Nunez with 18 minutes left to play and taking up his spot as centre-forward.

Chiesa showed promising signs while at the other end Kelleher made a great save to deny Bournemouth substitute Luis Sinisterra, with the second half ending with a 3-0 win for Liverpool.

TIA Man of the Match: Luis Diaz

Referee: Tony Harrington

Liverpool: Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Szoboszlai (Jones 61′), Mac Allister; Salah, Diaz (Chiesa 72′), Nunez (Gakpo 72′)

Subs not used: Jaros, Quansah, Gomez, Bradley, Tsimikas, Jota

Bournemouth: Kepa; Araujo (Smith 70′), Huijsen, Zabarnyi, Kerkez; Christie (Scott 70′), Cook; Semenyo (Sinisterra 70′), Kluivert (Ouattara 46′), Tavernier; Evanilson (Unal 76′)

Subs not used: Travers, Senesi, Hill, Brooks

Next match: West Ham (H) – Carabao Cup Third Round – Wednesday, September 25, 8pm (BST)