- Shimon Hafez
- BBC Sports – Anfield
6 hours ago
Liverpool equaled the biggest victory in the history of the Premier League, and began its season in a stunning way by crushing newly promoted Bournemouth, on Saturday, 9-0 at Anfield.
Coach Jurgen Klopp described the start of his team’s season as a “false start” after two draws and Monday night’s defeat against Manchester United, but the “Reds” responded in a firm manner.
Manchester United achieved this margin of victory twice, against Ipswich in 1995 and Southampton last year, while Leicester City did the same against “The Saints” in 2019.
Liverpool started the match in a perfect way, scoring two goals in the first five minutes against the guests.
Luis Diaz rose to score the opening goal and Harvey Elliott scored his first goal in the Premier League, with a superb shot from outside the penalty area.
Full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold hit a long-range shot into the upper corner, while Roberto Firmino provided the decisive balls in the three goals.
The Brazilian striker moved from making goals to scoring, after half an hour, when he scored the fourth goal for a team, while Virgil van Dijk scored from a header, before the end of the first half.
Things went from bad to worse for Scott Parker’s men in the first minute of the second half, when Chris Mepham mistakenly turned the ball into his own net.
In the 62nd minute, Roberto Firmino scored a rebound in the middle of the goal after the ball returned to him in the penalty area.
Fabio Carvalho, who joined in the summer, scored his goal eight minutes before the end of the match, and Colombian winger Diaz scored the ninth goal.
For Bournemouth, this is their third consecutive league defeat without a goal, having beaten Aston Villa in their opening match.
It has been said that Liverpool looked lethargic and were missing striker Sadio Mane, who moved to Bayern Munich, after failing to win any of his first three matches.
Draws against Fulham and Crystal Palace, followed by a slow performance in a 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford at the start of the week, have raised questions about the Reds’ credentials.
The extensive injury list, particularly in midfield, didn’t help, but Liverpool responded to the doubters with a stunning display that the visitors missed.
The Reds scored a total of 19 shots on goal, 12 of them on goal, with nine shots in the net.
It was the first time they had scored this number since 1989, when they did so against Crystal Palace in the old version of the tournament.
photo released, Getty Images
As for Bournemouth, the South Coast team lost 4-0 by champion Manchester City, and lost 3-0 at home to Arsenal, and gave up completely after conceding two goals in the first five minutes at Anfield.
Parker’s men have conceded the most goals in the Premier League this season, 16, and scored just two.
The total of 21 shots from their first four matches is the second lowest since Sunderland had 20 in 2012-13.