Liverpool talisman Mo Salah and substitute Federico Chiesa struck late goals as the Premier League champions began the defence of its title, beating Bournemouth 4-2 in a thriller on the opening night of the season at Anfield on Friday.
The night started with an emotional minute’s silence for Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva, who died in a car crash. Fans fought back tears as they sang “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
On a bittersweet evening charged with emotion, newcomer Hugo Ekitike bagged a goal on his league debut to put the hosts ahead after 37 minutes and Cody Gakpo doubled the lead in the 49th.
But Ghanaian international Antoine Semenyo, who was the target of racist abuse in the first half that led to a pause in the game, pulled one back for the visitors in the 64th minute .
He then completed a double 12 minutes later to rock Liverpool and shock the home fans.
Liverpool looked for a way back into the game and were rewarded. Substitute Chiesa came off the bench and sent the Anfield faithful away happy with an 88th-minute strike.
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Bournemouth goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic swatted away a ball into the box and the rebound fell to the iItalian, who struck the ball sweetly to fire Liverpool ahead.
Salah then scored deep into added time to wrap up the three points for the champions in style. He chased the ball past the defence before cutting inside and firing into the bottom corner.
The goal put the Egyptian joint-fourth with Andy Cole on the all-time Premier League scorers’ list with 187.
“Fantastic,” Liverpool boss Arne Slot said of Italian forward Chiesa’s goal. “He came in in the end because we needed a goal. For him then to score in such a moment is special.”
“It’s even more special because the fans have supported him. It’s nice he gives them something in return with a great goal.”
