Bournemouth 0-4 Liverpool – Match Report & Player Ratings | OneFootball

Liverpool came into a wet and windy Vitality Stadium sitting at the top of the Premier League and left extending their lead after two braces from Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota in a 4-0 route on the south coast against Bournemouth. Bournemouth did have their chances in the game but just found themselves lacking in the final product by comparison to the away side.

The Cherries started off the better of the two sides for the opening 10 minutes, but Jurgen Klopp’s outfit grew into the game and gained the upper hand over their hosts as the first half progressed.

Luis Sinisterra drilled a low cross right across Liverpool’s penalty area but nobody in black and red was in the middle to turn the ball home around the 25-minute mark.

Six minutes later Nunez had the Reds’ best chance as Jota held the ball up and played a low ball across the box, but it was just behind the Uruguayan.

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Having weathered the early storm in no small part due to the defensive qualities of Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Alexis Mac Allister, the table toppers began to show their teeth in an attacking sense.

Despite the likes of Conor Bradley, Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott all attempting to ignite the frontline, Liverpool’s spark was proving elusive in the first half.

Corners looked the most likely route to goal for Klopp’s charges as Elliott took over set-piece duty, finding the head of Konate and almost Van Dijk – both in very dangerous areas.

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Another moment of controversy potentially again for VAR in the 35th minute as a challenge on Luis Diaz from Justin Kluivert went unpunished on the field and was quickly checked and cleared by those in the review room. Curtis Jones was sent off for a similar challenge earlier in the season against Tottenham Hotspur in their 2-1 defeat where VAR also incorrectly disallowed a Diaz goal for offside.

Nunez got the Reds off to the perfect start in the second half with the first goal of the game after some lovely one-touch play between Jones and Jota to set up the Uruguayan to stroke the ball past Neto into the bottom corner.

Klopp made two changes in the 65th minute with the introduction of Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo at the expense of Diaz and Harvey Elliott. Both of the latter had good but relatively quiet games for Jurgen Klopp’s side today.

Gakpo made an instant impact off the bench after some good hold-up play by Nunez for the Dutchman to then set up Jota for a second goal for the Reds 20 minutes of the 90 still to play.

Jota made it 3-0 for his team 10 minutes later when he lashed the ball past a helpless Neto again after he had a complete miskick but was able to get a second chance at getting his shot away from Conor Bradley’s pass.

Nunez rounded off a perfect performance in added time at the end of the game as he latched onto the end of Joe Gomez’s cross to prod the ball home for a fourth goal.

Jota came away with two goals, an assist, and a well-deserved man of the match to boot on the south coast today as the men in red now look on towards their Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Fulham on Wednesday.

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Player Ratings – Alisson 7, Bradley 8, Konate 9, Van Dijk 8, Gomez 8; Mac Allister 9, Elliott 7, Jones 7; Diaz 7, Nunez 9, Jota 10

Redmen Reacts

A superb display on the road, particularly second half in what looked on paper to be a tricky clash against an in-form Bournemouth side.

Klopp’s charges sprung to life in the second 45 and were clinical in front of goal when the opportunities arose, overcoming the absence of a host of key players.

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