Liverpool suffered a setback when Mohamed Salah missed a penalty in their shocking 1-0 loss to struggling Bournemouth on Saturday.
After their historic 7-0 demolition of longtime rivals Manchester United last weekend, Jürgen Klopp’s team arrived at Dean Court in good spirits.
Yet on the south coast, Liverpool received a harsh reality check that dashed their dreams of utilizing that incredible win as a springboard to compete for a top-four finish in the Premier League.
Inadequate Liverpool defending was punished by Philip Billing, who gave the hapless hosts the lead early on. Salah missed a chance to tie the score when he missed a penalty kick in the second half.
When Salah scored twice against United, he broke the Premier League scoring record for Liverpool.
But the Egyptian star’s inability to increase his tally of 130 forced Liverpool to suffer their first league loss in six games.
Fifth-placed In the rout of United, Liverpool appeared to have used all of their goals, and their lifeless performance put them three points behind Tottenham before the north Londoners’ match against Nottingham Forest later on Saturday.
Apart from hurting Liverpool’s chances of finishing in the top four, it wasn’t exactly the best preparation for Wednesday’s second leg of the Champions League semifinal against Real Madrid, where the Reds need a miracle to overcome a 5-2 deficit.
Second leg of the league’s round of 16 against Real Madrid, where the Reds require a miracle to overcome a 5-2 deficit.
The defeat to Bournemouth, who started the game at the foot of the table and lost 9-0 to Liverpool in August, was the latest humiliation in a difficult campaign for Jurgen Klopp’s team, which has also seen them suffer shocking losses to Brighton, Brentford, and Wolves.
Last Saturday at Arsenal, Bournemouth scored the second-fastest goal in Premier League history, but they still let a two-goal lead slip away in a heartbreaking come-from-behind loss to the league leaders.
This time, it was Liverpool who got off to a quick start. Virgil van Dijk’s header was headed for the top corner before Bournemouth midfielder Jefferson Lerma cleared it off the line.
