The opening night of the new Premier League season contained tearful tributes, high drama, allegations of racist abuse and another reminder that, when it comes to indefatigable spirit and the will-to-win, Liverpool have few rivals.
Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo, who reported being racially abused by a Liverpool fan during the first half at Anfield, appeared to have delivered a point for Andoni Iraoli’s side when hauling the visitors back from two goals down. An 88th minute volley from Liverpool substitute Federico Chiesa, however, plus a stoppage time strike from Mohamed Salah conjured a rescue act for Arne Slot’s champions. Salah was in tears after the final whistle as he stood in front of the Kop and absorbed a tribute to Diogo Jota.
Liverpool entered the new campaign with anticipation and hope but also in grief. The club’s first home Premier League game of the season was designated the moment to honour Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva following their tragic deaths in a car accident in July.
Liverpool paid its respects in exemplary fashion, as the club and its fans have done throughout. Bournemouth fans also played their part in a moving tribute, raising a banner that read ‘Diogo Jota 20 Together’ before kick-off and joining in the applause that thundered around the stadium in the 20th minute.
Jota’s wife, Rute Cardoso, children and family found the strength to be present at Anfield. A banner along the front of The Kop welcomed them. ‘Rute, Dinis, Duarte, Matilda – Anfield will always be your home. You’ll Never Walk Alone.’ A mosaic on The Kop read ‘DJ 20’. Another on the lower tier of the Sir Kenny Dalglish Stand read ‘AS 30’, commemorating Silva’s number for his club in Portugal, Penafiel. Both sets of players wore black armbands and Anfield observed an impeccable moment of silence before kick off. Then it was down to business.
Ekitiké, the recent £69m signing from Eintracht Frankfurt, instantly impressed, taking down a long ball from Virgil van Dijk and releasing Mohamed Salah in space. Bournemouth’s new goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic tipped over Salah’s first trademark effort of the campaign.
Hugo Ekitiké pays tribute to Diogo Jota after scoring Liverpool’s first-half opener. Photograph: Liverpool FC/Getty Images
Ekitiké captivated Anfield long before his opening goal. His touch, movement and pace ensured a seamless assimilation into the Liverpool attack but one look at Slot’s substitute bench, where his striking options consisted of Federico Chiesa and 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha, underlined why interest in Alexander Isak remains. For all the additions to the Liverpool ranks and departures from the Bournemouth squad, however, it was the visitors who looked the more enterprising team prior to Ekitiké’s breakthrough.
Bournemouth have sold Milos Kerkez, Dean Huijsen and Illia Zabarnyi to the powerhouses of Liverpool, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain respectively this summer for a combined £144.8m. Their absences told defensively, but Iraola will take comfort from the quality of his side’s overall display. Semenyo should have done better than to side-foot over Alisson’s goal when Kerkez’s replacement, Adrien Truffert, swept an inviting cross along the face of the Liverpool six-yard box. Marcus Tavernier had another fine chance from Adam Smith’s pull back but scuffed a shot straight at Alisson, who was making his 300th appearance for Liverpool.
Marcos Senesi was fortunate in the extreme to avoid a red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity with only 13 minutes gone. Attempting to intercept a pass intended for Ekitiké, the Bournemouth central defender miscued a clearance from his thigh onto his fingertips before clawing the ball away from the Liverpool striker, who would have been through on goal. It was a clear handball, so clear that Cody Gakpo picked up the ball to await the inevitable punishment. Instead, and for some inexplicable reason, referee Anthony Taylor awarded Bournemouth a free-kick for a handball by Gakpo. It was some escape.
Slot was further enraged when Taylor waved play on following a trip on Florian Wirtz. Semenyo took possession and avoided a dangerous challenge from Kerkez before being tripped by Alexis Mac Allister. Moments later, as the Bournemouth forward shaped to take a throw-in, a Liverpool fan moved to the front of the Main Stand and berated him. Semenyo informed Taylor he had been racially abused and the game was paused as the match official called over both managers and stewards. A fan in a wheelchair was escorted out of the stadium at half-time by three police officers.
Ekitiké gave Liverpool the lead shortly after the depressing incident when, having exchanged passes with Mac Allister, he ran at Senesi and benefited from a ricochet off the defender to race through on goal. The France under-21 international was coolness personified as he sent Petrovic to his right and rolled a finish past the keeper’s left. Gakpo doubled the champions’ advantage early in the second half when he received Ekitike’s pass on the edge of the area and cut across two Bournemouth players before finding the bottom corner.
Liverpool were in the comfort zone, and Bournemouth almost made them pay. Semenyo twice punished loose Liverpool defending – and it had been a feature of their entire performance – to haul the visitors level. The Ghana international was unmarked as he swept home David Brooks’ low centre from the left. There was a sense of inevitability about Bournemouth’s equaliser and it arrived when Salah overhit a pass towards Dominik Szoboszlai. Hamed Traore intercepted and released Semenyo, who set off from deep inside his own half and did not meet a challenge of note until reaching the edge of the Liverpool penalty area.
The forward ended his outstanding run by finding the bottom corner of Alisson’s goal. How Salah would make amends. It was his cross that caused pandemonium inside the Bournemouth box and resulted in substitute Chiesa volleying Liverpool back into the lead in the 88th minute. In stoppage time Salah registered his customary opening day goal to put the result beyond doubt with a piercing finish beyond Petrovic. The Premier League is back, and late drama Liverpool are too.
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