Salah 25' 48' 77'
Cook OG 68'
That was about a good as it gets.
Sure, we've seen more thorough beat-downs. We've seen more comprehensive performances. But that was comfortable, despite being away from home, in the midst of a run about about a million games a month, and with five changes and a different formation from Wednesday's similarly heartening win at Burnley.
Liverpool monopolize the ball for the opening 25 minutes until scoring, a well-taken but fortunate goal with Salah just offside on the rebound to Firmino's shot from distance. Liverpool then slowly invite Bournemouth forward but remain untested, limiting shots and dealing with multiple Bournemouth corners.
Then Liverpool pull away in the second half. The all-important second comes within three minutes of the restart via Liverpool's press. Firmino robs Lerma and feeds Salah, staying on his feet despite a foul from Cook, bursting past Daniels to score an archetypal Salah goal. The game-killing third comes midway through the half, cross field from Firmino to Salah to Robertson to Fabinho to Robertson, a vicious cross towards Mané pinballed into the net by Cook. The fourth is just rude, with Salah twice dancing around Begovic after receiving Robertson's pass following an interception, waltzing towards goal as three Bournemouth players retreat to the goal line, unable to prevent the tap in.
It's a rolling tide for the first quarter of the game, then an older brother holding the younger at arm's length while intermittently counter-punching to remind each of their station for the other three-quarters. And it's not as if Bournemouth are a bad side, massively improving on last season's performances, in a dead heat with Everton and United as "best of the rest."
Mo Salah scores a hat-trick, now joint-top scorer in the league despite having a "bad" season so far. Keïta and Fabinho start together for the first time – with all four of Liverpool's summer signings in the XI – even if the former played on the left flank. Liverpool demonstrated their depth, with five changes from Wednesday's side which had seven changes from last Sunday's side. Liverpool were versatile, with Keïta on the left flank, Milner at right back, and Firmino and Salah more of a strike partnership in a 4-2-2-2 rather than the 4-2-3-1 we've seen more often. Mané returned from the cut on his foot, Lallana returned from whatever injury kept him out this time.
It was a team-wide performance, with no scapegoats in the slightest and headlined by Salah, who'll take a ton of confidence from this productivity. He's now scored 42 league goals for Liverpool in just 52 appearances, the most of any player under Klopp and faster to the mark than any other Liverpool player in the Premier League era. And at the other end of the pitch, Liverpool kept its tenth clean sheet in 16 Premier League games, conceding just once in the five games since that annoying 1-1 draw at Arsenal. Liverpool continue with its best start to a top-flight campaign in the club's history, now top of the table for at least a couple of hours.
It wasn't great, but that's what makes it good. We've still not hit the dizzying heights of last season, but it's all coming together in these last five matches. Diligent and mostly comfortable in three of the five, a tenacious comeback in the fourth, and that Merseyside Derby. Still unbeaten, still neck and neck with Manchester City.
Right when the season starts to get serious.
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