Despair for Cherries but Iraola can take encouragement
- Published
Bournemouth were presented with the toughest possible start to their Premier League campaign as they faced Premier League champions Liverpool at their fortress.
And it came after a summer of upheaval, with the defence that performed so well last season ransacked - Dean Huijsen sold to Real Madrid, Illia Zabarnyi to Paris St-Germain and Milos Kerkez in opposition here at Anfield - raising £147m in the process.
For all that, this was an excellent performance from Bournemouth that left them so close to an outstanding point before they fell victim to a typical late Liverpool surge.
And at the heart of it all was the outstanding Antoine Semenyo, who told experienced referee Anthony Taylor about being racially abused by a member of the crowd in the first half and responded with a superb display and two fine goals.
Bournemouth showed the strength of character and confidence manager Andoni Iraola has instilled in his team and they refused to take a backward step, even pressing for a winner at one stage.
Iraola has replenished his side with left-back Adrien Truffert and central defender Bafode Diakite, signed from Lille for £35m. Talks are also under way to bring in talented Scotland forward Ben Doak from Liverpool.
This, on top of what Bournemouth delivered at Anfield, will give Iraola heart despite this late disappointment.
Did you know?
Antoine Semenyo has scored 50% of Bournemouth's Premier League goals at Anfield (three of six). Indeed, he was the first visiting player to score more than once at the ground in the league since Leandro Trossard scored a hat-trick for Brighton in October 2022.
Bournemouth have taken just one point from their nine Premier League games at Anfield (D1 L8), an average of 0.11 per game. Only at Manchester City do they have a poorer average on the road against a side they have visited five+ times in the competition (zero points in eight games).