New players shine + resilience win! Liverpool 4-2 Bournemouth: confirms the two key signals behind it!

The 2025-26 Premier League season kicked off at Anfield Stadium. Liverpool beat Bournemouth 4-2 with the final goals of Federico Chiesa and Mohamed Salah to start the defending title with an exciting victory. The game not only witnessed the stunning appearance of new players, but also cared the Reds' deep remembrance of former player Diogo Jota, and also attracted widespread attention due to a racial discrimination incident.

Before the match, Anfield paid tribute to the Jota brothers

Before the match, Liverpool held a touching memorial service for the late player Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva. All the fans watched silence together, and the exquisite patterns paying tribute to Jota were also displayed on the stadium. The club has officially retired Jota's No. 20 jersey, which will no longer be used for men's, women's and youth training echelons, in order to remember the Portuguese striker who once played for the Reds.

Liverpool players used gestures to commemorate Jota many times during the warm-up and pre-match sessions. Salah, the hero of the goal scorer, replicated Jota's iconic celebration moves, and the whole audience's emotions once reached a climax. "We want to win this game for the fans on the scene, and even more so for Jota." New aid Hugo Ekitic said emotionally in an interview after the game.

Match progress: From two goals leading to a desperate comeback

[First half: Dispute interruption + new aid breaking]

Only 4 minutes into the game, Liverpool created a threat - Ekitic passed the ball to the wing, Salah broke through and shot, but was saved by Bournemouth goalkeeper Joelger Petrovic. In the 13th minute, the game was controversial: Bournemouth defender Marcos Senesi suspected of handball preventing Ekitic from making a single shot in the penalty area. VAR looked back and did not award a penalty, which caused dissatisfaction from the Liverpool coaching staff.

The 29th minute, the game was suspended for about 4 minutes due to serious incidents: Bournemouth forward Antoine Semeno reported to the referee, and the audience used racial discriminatory remarks against him. Referee Anthony Taylor immediately communicated with the coaches of the two teams.

After the game resumed, Liverpool quickly broke the deadlock: In the 37th minute, Alexis McAllister sent a straight pass, Ekitic got rid of the defense and calmly pushed the ball to score, winning his first goal in the Premier League, and also became the first goal scorer in the Premier League in the 2025-26 season.

After halftime, Liverpool led 1-0.

【Second half: Bournemouth counterattack, the Reds won the final victory】

Change of sides and fight again, Liverpool expands its advantage. In the 49th minute, Ekitic turned into an offensive fulcrum to assist Cody Garkepo. The Dutch drifted past the defender in the penalty area and scored in the far corner, rewriting the score to 2-0.

However, Bournemouth did not give up, and Antoine Semeno became the team's counterattack core: in the 64th minute, he received a precise cross from David Brooks, and scored a goal in front of the goal; in the 76th minute, Antoine Semeno took advantage of Salah's mistake to launch a counterattack, ran a single 80-meter run and scored a low shot, miraculously 2-2 (Semeno is the first visiting player to complete the Premier League second goal at Anfield Stadium since September 2022).

At the critical moment, Liverpool coach Slot replaced Federico Chiesa. In the 88th minute, Bournemouth defender Ben Winterburn made a clearance mistake, Chiesa seized the opportunity in the penalty area and scored a goal, helping Liverpool lead 3-2 again, and Anfield was instantly excited. In

stoppage time, Salah received a long pass from Endo, and scored with a sharp shot from inside, locking the score at 4-2. This goal not only secured the victory for the Reds, but also allowed Salah to set a record for the Premier League opening game with 10 goals, and was also his 12th career goal against Bournemouth.

[Highlights and records of this game]

Salah: 10 goals in the Premier League opening game, setting a historical record; a total of 12 goals against Bournemouth, becoming Bournemouth's "nemesis".

Ekitic: contributed 1 goal and 1 assist in his debut, becoming the "first goal maker" in the Premier League in the 2025-26 season.

Antoine Semeno: The first away player to finish the Premier League second goal in Anfield in the past three years.

Written at the end

[Two key signals behind this game]

In addition to the exciting game situation, this game also confirms two important facts:

1. Ekitic quickly integrated into the team: he has found a position in the tactical system of Arne Slot, and has a tacit understanding with Garkepo and Salah, just like he has been playing for Liverpool for several months.

2. The Reds remain resilience: Even if they fall into a passive position, this team still maintains the "snatching mentality" and can win at critical moments.

In the end, Liverpool started the new season with a 4-2 score with the amazing performance and strong resilience of the new players. Such performance may play an important role in the championship journey this season.