Liverpool 4-2 Bournemouth: New signings impress but the old guard deliver the victory
In the end, it was a worthy opener to show the world just what the Premier League is all about. Liverpool may have won but they were pulled ragged until the very dying stages and had to squeeze out every drop of that Anfield magic.
Interestingly, all four of their new signings were watching on from the bench when the champions scored two late goals to emerge victorious against an intense Bournemouth side.
Federico Chiesa, the club’s only signing last summer, put the champions back in front when he jumped at the ball in the 88th minute, smashing it in with a stunning volley after Bournemouth’s goalie Djordje Petrovic had struggled to clear.
In stoppage time, Mohamed Salah collected on the left, cut into the box and drove a low shot into the bottom right corner with his weaker right foot. It was 4-2 and Liverpool were roaring towards victory.
Only a few minutes before it hadn’t seemed that way. Bournemouth, who had fallen two goals behind as of the hour mark, clawed their way back with the pace and purpose that defined their entire game on the night.
The Cherries ran and covered every blade of grass, matching Liverpool’s high tempo with sharp incisive play of their own.
The deadlock was broken in the 37th minute when debutant Hugo Ekitike, who is proving to be cut and ready-made for the Reds, combined with another debutant Florian Wirtz to run through on goal.
He was helped by a deflection off Marcos Senesi that fortunately dropped back to him as he tried to run clear. But the finish needed no luck, as he calmly opened up his body and sent Petrovic the wrong way.
In the second half, Ekitike turned provider when he slipped the ball into Cody Gakpo, who took some touches to free himself from markers and then struck a firm, low shot into the bottom right corner.
At that point, with an hour gone and Liverpool 2-0 up it felt like the game was dead and buried, the feisty Cherries tempered and beaten. But Antoine Semenyo, Bournemouth’s would-be hero, fighting off distasteful racist abuse directed towards him on the opening night, ran the length of the pitch to meet David Brooks’s cross and halve Liverpool’s lead.
Fifteen minutes from time he was back at it, collecting from his own half and again running the length of the pitch. There were options left and right but with eyes only for goal, he turned Ibrahima Konate inside out before striking firmly into the bottom right corner. Two all.
Liverpool’s debutants were undoubtedly impressive, even if Milos Kerkez struggled to contain his former teammate Semenyo and Wirtz faced the brunt of Bournemouth’s intensity. Ekitike showed once again that he can be the star of the show, regardless of how the situation with Alexander Isak ends.
But in the final moments, when the champions faced a stuttering start to their title defence, it was not the lavish new signings but the old guard who rose to the occasion and delivered Arne Slot’s first win of 2025-26.
