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Liverpool's relentless march to the Premier League title continued on Saturday with a 3-0 win over Bournemouth. Mohamed Salah was among the standouts with a goal and an assist.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain got the opener for the Reds, before Salah set up Naby Keita to double the lead late in the first half. Keita then returned the favour in the second, and the Reds breezed to the finish line.
Liverpool remain unbeaten in the Premier League.
The Reds patiently went looking for the opening goal from kick-off, going close after seven minutes through Salah.
The hosts were without star forward Harry Wilson, who couldn't face his parent club, and that meant they had to search for answers in attack. Bournemouth looked far from comfortable moving forward, although Dominic Solanke had a good look on goal after 20 minutes, only for Dejan Lovren to recover in time to make a key block.
James Milner fired a shot wide from a promising position, and Arnaut Danjuma did well to hold off his man but couldn't work Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker.
While the opening half was a relatively tame affair, there was plenty of late action. Oxlade-Chamberlain got the opening goal after 35 minutes, thanks to a superb ball over the top from Jordan Henderson.
The England international is back to his best:
Lovren suffered a knock and had to come off injured, before Keita doubled the Reds' advantage after a lovely backheel from Salah.
Before the match, The Athletic's James Pearce thought the former RB Leipzig midfielder had a big opportunity to impress, and he did so with his goal:
The Reds should have had a third goal, with Salah somehow missing the target from close range after a clever pass from Roberto Firmino.
Liverpool came out firing again in the second half, and Keita could have had a second goal after 50 minutes, firing a shot straight at Aaron Ramsdale.
No one appeared to want to score more than Salah, who had several good looks in the first half and finally got his name on the scoresheet after the break. Keita turned provider, sending the Egyptian through on goal for the easy finish.
Only a few legendary forwards have scored more goals in their first 100 Premier League appearances:
Liverpool were in cruise control at this point, and Trent Alexander-Arnold nearly added a fourth after good work from Milner, but he fired wide.
Ramsdale made a good stop to deny Salah a second goal, and he had to get off his line quickly to get rid of the ball after a poor back-pass. The final chance of the contest fell to Curtis Jones, who blasted over after Xherdan Shaqiri set him up perfectly.
What's Next?
The Reds will visit Salzburg in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. Bournemouth visit Chelsea on Saturday.
What the managers said:
Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp: "The boys made a lot of good decisions and that's why it was a comfortable win, maybe more than we would have expected before the game, but Bournemouth were in a difficult situation, losing two key players, and then you get a feeling that it's not a Bournemouth day.
"But we scored wonderful goals, had other big chances and the result is most important, but the performance was really good as well, especially in the second half when we were really professional and assured. That's what we have to be in the moment and it's not about being constantly exciting, it's about doing the right stuff. There were not a lot of difficult moments to defend, which is good and very important so nearly a perfect day."
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says that due to Bournemouth losing key players during the game their 3-0 win was more comfortable than anticipated.
Bournemouth's Eddie Howe: "The game seemed to hinge on Nathan's injury. Up until that point, we had looked relatively solid, we were in the game, we were a threat at different moments but he gets his injury and we concede seconds later. It was a hammer blow, a double whammy with the injury and the goal and we never recovered.
"We're going to need players to win games - you don't win matches and get points in the Premier League without good players and we've got such a long injury list now that it's obviously a big concern for the future. We've got games coming up thick and fast and we can't let this run continue."
Eddie Howe believes Bournemouth 'never really recovered' after Nathan Ake's injury in their 4-0 home loss to Liverpool in the Premier League.
Player ratings
Bournemouth: Ramsdale (5), Ake (6), Francis (7), Mepham (6), Rico (6), Fraser (6), Lerma (6), Biling (6), Groeneveld (6), Solanke (6), C Wilson (6).
Subs used: Simpson (5), Cook (5), Gosling (5).
Liverpool: Alisson (5), Gomez (7), Van Dijk (8), Lovren (6), Robertson (7), Henderson (7), Milner (7), Oxlade-Chamberlain (7), Keita (8), Firmino (7), Salah (8).
Subs used: Alexander-Arnold (7), Jones (6), Shaqiri (n/a).
Man of the match - Mohamed Salah
This could have been either Salah or Keita after their superb attacking performances, but the Egypt forward just takes the accolade. He was rested in midweek and it clearly did him the world of good, looking dangerous every time he picked up the ball and showing off his trademark flair.
His attacking stats make for some impressive reading too. He had five shots, four of which were on target and one was a very well-taken goal from a man clearly enjoying his football in this special side. He also made four key passes, picking up an assist among those, which was a sensational back pass for Keita - it was almost instinctive.
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