Red card for Mac Allister as Liverpool attack too much for Bournemouth
Premier League
Liverpool 3 Bournemouth 1
ALEXIS Mac Allister marked his Anfield debut with a red card but, for all their early-season teething problems, Liverpool’s attacking power was still too much for Bournemouth.
The Argentinian World Cup winner was red carded just before the hour for a studs-up challenge on Ryan Christie, hardly an auspicious debut for Jurgen Klopp’s big summer signing.
But within minutes, Diogo Jota had put his side 3-1 in front after keeper Neto could only spill a shot from Dominik Szoboszlai directly into his path and Liverpool had an important two-goal cushion.
Such an outcome looked highly unlikely after a nightmare defensive start by the Reds saw Jaidon Anthony have an effort ruled out for offside after just 50 seconds.
And within three minutes, Trent Alexander-Arnold lost the ball in midfield and, after Dominic Solanke had been blocked, Antoine Semenyo drove in a superb finish.
It was a far cry from the corresponding fixture a little under a year ago, in which Liverpool ran out 9-0 winners.
But with the Reds having endured a frustrating summer transfer window to date, they featured only two new signings in the starting XI yet still looked like a bunch of strangers in the opening exchanges.
They also survived a penalty appeal after Solanke was stopped by the combined efforts of Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson in the Liverpool area.
The home side, however, was beginning to click through the gears in attack and looked more like their old menacing selves by they time Luis Diaz equalised on 28 minutes.
Alexander-Arnold’s pass found Diogo Jota whose cross took a fortunate deflection off Marcos Senesi into the path of Diaz. The Liverpool striker took a superb controlling touch, teeing the
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