Liverpool vs Bournemouth. Premier League.
AnfieldAttendance53,328.
Free highlights and match report as Liverpool equal record Premier League win; Roberto Firmino registers two goals and hat-trick of assists; Luis Diaz (2), Harvey Elliott, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Fabio Carvalho on target; Bournemouth's Chris Mepham put through own net
Wednesday 31 August 2022 09:35, UK
Liverpool got their season off and running in devastating fashion, equalling the Premier League's biggest victory with a 9-0 demolition of Bournemouth at Anfield.
Monday's defeat at Manchester United confirmed Liverpool's worst start to a Premier League season in a decade but the rampant Reds swiftly put the record straight, matching United's 9-0 victory over Ipswich in 1995 to kick-start their campaign.
Roberto Firmino set up Luis Diaz's opener (3), Harvey Elliott's drive (6) and Trent Alexander-Arnold's thunderous effort (28) before getting on the scoresheet with Liverpool's fourth (31).
Virgil van Dijk's towering header (45) ensured there was no respite for the Cherries, who handed Liverpool their sixth when Chris Mepham put through his own net (46). Firmino got his second goal in the 62nd minute for Liverpool's seventh of the afternoon.
Fabio Carvalho came off the bench to score his first Liverpool goal (80), before Diaz rounded off the historic victory with his second and the hosts' ninth (85) as Jurgen Klopp's side claimed their first win of the campaign to climb to eighth in the table.
Scott Parker, while in charge of Fulham, was the last visiting manager to win at Anfield in the Premier League but there was to be no repeat as Liverpool raced out of the traps to banish their Old Trafford nightmare.
Diaz's brilliant header back across goal opened the floodgates and was quickly followed by Elliott's venomous first Premier League goal on six minutes, before Liverpool underscored their dominance on 28 minutes when Alexander-Arnold rifled home from 25 yards.
Having set up Liverpool's first three goals, Firmino ghosted into the Bournemouth area to extend the lead to four - his first league goal at Anfield since December 2020 - before Van Dijk headed home as the Reds scored five times in the first half of a Premier League game for the first time.
Mepham's own goal added salt to Bournemouth wounds within seconds of the restart and the onslaught continued with Firmino adding his second in front of the Kop before departing to a standing ovation from the Anfield faithful.
Carvalho got in on the act and Diaz turned home his second as Liverpool scored nine goals in a top-flight game for the first time since their 1989 thrashing of Crystal Palace, but calls for a 10th from the baying Anfield crowd went unanswered.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp: "Very good. We wanted to show a reaction. Be ourselves. Getting to be the best version of ourselves. We play a specific way. We scored wonderful goals. The game settled and we kept scoring. It was about keep going. Not to humiliate Bournemouth, we couldn't respect them more. It's about putting the opponent under pressure. I could bring on the kids, they deserve it so much. Everything was perfect pretty much."
Bournemouth boss Scott Parker: "The bottom line is we were in an arena with massive quality and, at this moment in time, we're probably not equipped to handle it. I'm disappointed with the result, I'm disappointed for the fans who have travelled here, and I'm disappointed for the players that this is where we are the moment in time.
"The players, everyone, need a little bit of help. Today just proved too big a challenge, the levels - a clinical team and the intensity of the stadium - were far too big. It was a real humbling experience.
"I'm pretty shellshocked, the players are pretty shellshocked. It's my job to lift this group now, we need to dust this aside because there could be psychological elements after this defeat."
Roberto Firmino became the first Liverpool player to be directly involved in four goals in the first half of a single Premier League match (1 goal, 3 assists) and the first player overall since Harry Kane in February 2017 vs Stoke (3 goals, 1 assist). Firmino became just the third Liverpool player to have a hand in five goals in a single Premier League game after Mohamed Salah vs Watford in March 2018 and Luis Suárez vs Norwich in December 2013.
Liverpool host Newcastle (8pm) and Bournemouth entertain Wolves (7.30pm) in the Premier League on Wednesday. Liverpool then travel to Everton for the Merseyside derby on Saturday at 12.30pm, before Bournemouth make the trip to fellow newly-promoted side Nottingham Forest at 3pm.
