Mohamed Salah’s second-half penalty miss ensured Philip Billing’s 28th-minute strike was enough for AFC Bournemouth to claim a narrow 1-0 victory over Liverpool, ending the Cherries’ eight-game winless run in Premier League meetings with the Reds.
The lunchtime contest got off to an exciting start as Virgil van Dijk had a goalbound header cleared off the line, before Dango Ouattara spurned a glorious opportunity for the hosts, firing into the side netting after being forced wide by Alisson Becker.
Cody Gakpo, who was one of three Liverpool players to score a brace last weekend, steered the ball past Neto from Darwin Núñez’s accurate knockdown, but his effort was swiftly chalked off for offside.
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The Cherries had failed to score in their previous three home meetings against Jürgen Klopp’s side, but that barren run was brought to an end before the half-hour mark.
Ouattara drove towards the byline before cutting the ball back for Billing to guide home his sixth goal of the season.
The Portugal international was immediately involved, forcing Neto to parry the ball away from danger.
With just over 20 minutes remaining, Jota was involved once again when his header towards the goal was handled by Adam Smith, forcing referee John Brooks to point to the spot following a VAR review.
Salah fluffed his lines from the subsequent penalty, blasting the ball woefully wide of the Bournemouth goal.
Liverpool forced their hosts back in the closing stages, but an equalising goal proved elusive as Bournemouth held firm to claim their first home clean sheet of 2023.
