Bournemouth has been a bit of a graveyard this season. Many of the big boys have rocked up to the south coast only to head back north beaten black and blue after being toppled by Andoni Iraola’s effervescent, dogs-of-war, relentless team.
So the fact that Liverpool came here, matched the Cherries for fighting spirit, stood tall as the home team’s multifaceted attack threw everything at them, and took their own chances with prolific nature, should not be understated.
It helps, of course, when you have the best player in the league as your talisman. Mohamed Salah, that is, scoring another brace to fire Liverpool a huge nine points clear of second-placed Arsenal in the title race.
Whether there is a bump in the road for the Merseyside club remains to be seen but it feels like the narrative all season has been debating when this powerhouse will slip up. If anything, they are only getting better.
They were not perfect here, by any means. On another day, Bournemouth could have easily grabbed a point – if not more – and Iraola’s men hit the woodwork twice. The home crowd also fumed at what they perceived to be a poor refereeing performance.
But Slot’s men just seem to be able to win points in all conditions. They have all the hallmarks of champions and, though the champagne is not on ice just yet, it would take a brave man to bet against them romping to the championship in May.
Bournemouth woke up on Saturday morning as the division’s form team and, though Nottingham Forest won 7-0 in the early kick-off to slightly tarnish that tag, the Cherries came into this match full of confidence they could pull off an almighty scalp.
And they were nearly ahead with a matter of seconds on the clock. Trent Alexander-Arnold was careless in possession and robbed by Antoine Semenyo, who cut inside and called Alisson into early action. The Brazil keeper also denied Justin Kluivert in the early knockings.
Semenyo, a breakthrough star of the season in the Premier League, rattled the post after 20 minutes, again maneuvering a shooting chance after lacklustre defending.
It would be too far to say the league leaders were under the cosh but Bournemouth were certainly causing angst.
Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo and Salah had forced simple stops from Kepa Arrizabalaga at the other end but the home side were coping well. Andoni Iraola’s forwards have been praised to the hilt this season but Dean Huijsen and Illia Zabarnyi also deserve a mountain of credit.
Yet their hard work was undone after 30 minutes following a dubious penalty call. Regardless of the decision, Bournemouth were sliced open far too easily after a searching long ball from Andy Robertson set Gakpo away as he curved his run to get in behind Lewis Cook.
Salah stepped up and, well, the rest goes without saying. The Egyptian confidently slotted his penalty past Kepa to bring his league tally to 20 for a fifth separate campaign.
In the same breath Salah levelled Frank Lampard in joint-sixth in the all-time Premier League scoring chart.
Liverpool’s level slightly dropped in the minutes just after the half-time interval and both central midfielders were cautioned for fouls when Bournemouth threatened to counter-attack. Slot barked at his troops to calm down and asked them to regain control.
The Cherries continued to attack and had a golden chance to level the proceedings when substitute Marcus Tavernier curled a long-range effort past Alisson. Luckily for Liverpool, the shot clipped the inside of the post and Justin Kluivert shanked the rebound.
At this point, it felt like the pressure was starting to mount on Slot’s men. It is in these moments, then, that the star men need to step up. That is what happened as Salah curled a beautiful shot past Kepa for 2-0 to confirm the points after a zapping team move.