Liverpool struck twice in the final minutes through Federico Chiesa and Mohamed Salah to overcome a battling Bournemouth 4-2 in a thrilling start to the Premier League season on Friday.
Antoine Semenyo looked to have rescued a point for the Cherries by scoring twice, after he had reported an incident of racial abuse from a fan, to cancel out Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo’s strikes for the defending champions.
But on an emotive night as Anfield remembered Diogo Jota, Chiesa was the unlikely hero as the injury-hit Italian fired the home side back in front before Salah rounded off the scoring.
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Liverpool’s joy at celebrating a record-equalling 19th English top-flight title turned to tragedy during the off-season as forward Jota was killed alongside his brother Andre Silva in a car accident last month at the age of 28.
Just 11 days prior to the accident, the Portuguese international had married Rute Cardoso, the mother of his three children.
A large banner at the front of The Kop stand read: “Rute, Dinis, Duarte, Mafalda – Anfield will always be your home. You’ll Never Walk Alone.” During a minute’s silence, fans held up a giant mosaic with the initials of Jota and Silva, who was also a footballer, and their shirt numbers in the Portuguese flag.
Despite romping to the title with four games to spare last season, Liverpool have undergone a major transformation in the transfer market, spending close to £300 million ($407 million).
Ekitike, Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong made their first competitive starts for the Reds.
More could be yet to come with Liverpool linked with a British transfer record move for Newcastle’s Alexander Isak and interested in Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi.
The visitors were fortunate not to be reduced to 10 men less than 15 minutes in when Marcos Senesi clearly directed the ball out of Ekitike’s path with his hand when the French striker had a clear run at goal, but VAR surprisingly did not intervene.
Semenyo bags double after being abused | 00:42
The game was briefly halted on the half hour mark as Semenyo reported to referee Anthony Taylor he had been the subject of racist abuse from a Liverpool supporter, who was seen to be removed from the stands by police at half-time.
According to Sky Sportsa police investigation regarding the incident is underway, with the 47-year-old man being identified.
Bournemouth coach Andoni Iraola labelled the incident a “big shame”.
“It’s a big shame, most of the news will be about this thing. Obviously, it is something that is still a big problem, not just in football,” he said.
“From the Liverpool side, they have identified this person.”
Meanwhile, the Premier League released a statement regarding the incident.
“Tonight’s match between Liverpool Football Club and AFC Bournemouth was temporarily paused during the first half after a report of discriminatory abuse from the crowd, directed at Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo. This is in line with the Premier League’s on-field anti-discrimination protocol,” the statement read.
“The incident at Anfield will now be fully investigated. We offer our full support to the player and both clubs. Racism has no place in our game, or anywhere in society. We will continue to work with stakeholders and authorities to ensure our stadiums are an inclusive and welcoming environment for all.”
Captain of The Cherries, Adam Smith, also slammed the fan’s alleged racial remarks when speaking to Sky Sports.
“It’s totally unacceptable,” he said.
“I’m in shock that it happened. In this day and age, it shouldn’t be happening. I don’t know how Ant has played on and come up with those goals. I feel sorry for Ant.
“He’s a little bit down. Something needs to be done. Taking a knee is not having an effect. We’ll support him in there and hopefully he’ll be okay.
“I wanted him (Semenyo) to react because that’s what I would have done. I would have gone straight over there. It shows what type of man he is to not react, even in the moment when it happened to not react, to carry on, then he reported it to the ref.
“To come up with those goals shows what type of guy he is and what type of character he has. Fair play to Ant.
“It’s more angry, to be honest. Shocked. I said to the ref I wanted him (the supporter) removed immediately. He said we have to go through a process and the police will sort it.”
Smith also explained the Liverpool players were supportive of his request for the fan to be escorted out of the stadium.
“The Liverpool players were very supportive as well to Antoine and the rest of the team. I think it was handled in the right way, but just so angry,” he said.
“We’ve had discussions with the Premier League [about discriminatory comments] so they’ve been taking it seriously, but speaking to some of the lads in there, I don’t know what else we can do. We’ve been doing it for a long time now and no one is getting it. I don’t know what to say anymore. I just feel sorry for Ant, who has had to take that tonight. The whole country is watching and for that to happen is shocking.”
Shortly after the resumption, Ekitike settled Liverpool’s nerves as he got the break of the ball and slotted past Dorde Petrovic.
Ekitike then got the assist for Liverpool’s second just after the break as Gakpo coolly left two Bournemouth defenders on the ground and rolled into the bottom corner.
Arne Slot’s men have struggled to find the right balance in pre-season and in losing the Community Shield to Palace last weekend as a new-look slick attack could not compensate for wide open defensive gaps on the counter-attack and so it proved again.
David Brooks broke the offside trap and squared for Semenyo to pull a goal back. The Ghanaian then rounded off his eventful evening for good and bad with an incredible equaliser.
Semenyo collected possession just outside his own box and sprinted through a vacant Liverpool midfield before firing into the bottom corner 13 minutes from time.
Chiesa was barely used by Slot in his debut season in England but became the unlikely hero when he pounced on a loose ball inside the Bournemouth box on 89 minutes.
Salah then broke clear in stoppage time to score his customary goal in the opening game of the season and paid his own homage to Jota by mimicking one of his goal celebrations.
The Egyptian then broke down in tears after full-time as a chant in Jota’s name was belted out from the stands.