In a 1-0 loss against Bournemouth, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah missed a second-half penalty. Philip Billing’s goal propelled the south coast club off the bottom of the Premier League standings and out of the relegation zone.
The Cherries move up to 16th place in the standings with the victory in the opening league game of the weekend, while Liverpool remain in fifth place with 42 points after missing an opportunity to cut the three-point deficit to fourth-place Tottenham Hotspur.
Mohamed Salah missed an early opportunity to score for Liverpool, while Cody Gakpo had a shot disallowed for offside.
The wheels swiftly came off for the visitors, as Bournemouth defender Jefferson Lerma also had to clear Virgil van Dijk’s header off the line earlier this season.
The Reds ignored the warning from Dango Outtara of Bournemouth, who had a one-on-one with Alisson, and paid the price in the 28th minute when he outran Van Dijk and squared the ball for Billing, who drove it home.
When Billing collapsed in the box right before the interval, former Liverpool star Dominic Solanke nearly scored a second, but his shouts for a penalty were denied as Bournemouth successfully finished the half.
Diogo Jota replaced Harvey Elliot at the break, and he immediately made an impact by forcing Neto into a save four minutes later.
Jota then earned Liverpool a penalty after Adam Smith’s arm was injured by his goal-bound header. To the dismay of the away fans, Salah blasted his penalty effort high and wide of the net.
The mistake in the 70th minute seemed to completely collapse Liverpool, and they made very little of an effort to threaten the Bournemouth goal. Gakpo also missed an opportunity late in the game as his team’s offensive fell short once more.
Every tackle and clearing was welcomed by the home crowd, and they erupted in celebration when their team’s victory placed some distance between them and the other clubs at the bottom of the standings.
“As we’ve done a lot this season, we have to remain focused, close-knit, and work together. Today it paid off, and the assistance was excellent “Billing, the ecstatic goal-scorer, said BT Sport.
Jurgen Klopp, the manager of Liverpool, was forced to sort through the remnants of yet another subpar performance by his team in a campaign that has never truly taken off for them.
Klopp stated that the areas of the pitch where his team wanted to play were “super-clear, they were super-open… we didn’t utilise that often enough, we didn’t appreciate the challenge of facing a deep, compact side.” Klopp refused to attribute the loss to Salah’s missed penalty attempt.
“If you succeed there, the performance won’t improve, but the outcome might. Salah is a prolific goal-scorer, yet he missed the penalty. Such is life, “said Klopp.
