In the Premier League on Saturday, Liverpool rallied to defeat Bournemouth 3-1, and manager Juergen Klopp praised his team’s composure under pressure after they gave up the opening goal at Anfield.
Bournemouth had an early goal disallowed for offside before taking the lead in the third minute through Antoine Semenyo, which took Liverpool off guard.
Although they stumbled, the home team did well to recover as goals from Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota sealed the victory after Luis Diaz had restored parity following Semenyo’s score.
“Game off to a terrible start. I believed that our first goal was offside and served as a wake-up call. You take that, then. And then we gave up a regular goal a minute later, which is not cool,” Klopp told Sky Sports.
“After shaking it off for a few minutes, we were pretty good. The third goal, which is crucial at this point, was scored in the second half when we suddenly had 10 men on the field.
It energized us. The second match day is challenging. The guys struggled due to the unexpectedly high temperature today, but we persevered and didn’t give up, earning the three points, and that was it.
According to Klopp, Liverpool handled giving up a goal against Bournemouth better than they did in their 1-1 season-opening draw with Chelsea.
When we finally got into the game, Klopp stated, “We played where we had to play and we were calm, which is good.”
“I stated after Chelsea, I saw us rushing after we gave up. Today, I missed seeing that. We re-entered it and engaged in the game we desired.
The victory for Liverpool came at a cost since Alexis Mac Allister, an Argentine midfielder, received a red card in the 58th minute for a hard challenge and will now miss three games.
Andoni Iraola, the manager of Bournemouth, commented after the game that Mac Allister’s dismissal “did not look like a red card.”
“I understand 100% how it looks for a ref in that moment,” Klopp said in agreement with his opponent. “But when you see it back, it is the inside of the foot and there is no power behind it.”
“This shouldn’t have been a red card. We’ve seen rougher challenges that weren’t. I’m not sure exactly what needs to be done, but I think we should revisit the subject.
Liverpool will visit Newcastle United next.