Anfield’s first league game of the season was always going to feel different. With tributes to Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva woven through the evening, Liverpool carried the weight of remembrance and the expectation of champions. For an hour they looked in command—Hugo Ekitiké coolly announcing himself before teeing up Cody Gakpo—only for Bournemouth to drag the contest to the edge with a fierce, two-punch response from Antoine Semenyo.

And then came the old surge. Federico Chiesa, off the bench, guided in an 88th-minute volley to tilt the night back red, and Mohamed Salah—tears in his eyes at full-time—drove in the stoppage-time clincher in front of the Kop. It ended 4–2, but the number only partly tells the tale. Liverpool learned plenty about their new shape and their enduring nerve; they banked three points on a night that demanded more than just quality.

A Stadium United in Tribute, a Team Determined to Honour the Moment

Before the whistle, the club did what Liverpool do in moments like this. Black armbands, a minute’s silence, and an ovation in the 20th minute for Jota’s No 20 framed the occasion, mosaics rising from the Kop and Sir Kenny Dalglish Stand, the visiting support joining in respectfully. It was moving and communal—an evening that reminded everyone that football can carry memory as well as noise.

You could feel the players ride that current. The early phase was urgent, sometimes rushed, but the intent was unmistakable. Alisson—marking his 300th Liverpool appearance—settled nerves with sure handling, and the forward line began to stretch the game. On a night threaded with emotion, the task was to turn feeling into control. For long spells, Liverpool did.

New Faces, Old Edge: Ekitiké Arrives and the Front Line Clicks

Ekitiké wasted little time showing why he was brought in. He dropped in when needed, darted beyond when invited, and when the opening came eight minutes before half-time he shaped Petrovic one way and rolled the ball the other—clinical, unhurried, decisive. It was a finish that made a complicated debut look simple.

Four minutes after the break he was creator, sliding Gakpo across the box to steer into the far corner. Around them, Jeremie Frimpong’s forward runs and Milos Kerkez’s debut against his former club hinted at new combinations that will only sharpen with minutes. Florian Wirtz knitted pockets together in flashes. It wasn’t perfect, but you could already see the outlines of a frontline that can hurt teams in multiple ways.

A Midfield Wobble and a Warning: Bournemouth’s Response Exposes the Gaps

The flip side of Liverpool’s front-foot posture showed up after 2–0. With Ryan Gravenberch suspended and the distances loosening between midfield and defence, the spaces Bournemouth wanted began to appear—especially down the flanks and in the lanes behind the full-backs. The warning lights had flickered before the break; after it, they flashed.

Semenyo’s brace told the story. First he arrived unchecked to turn in David Brooks’ low ball. Then, as Liverpool coughed up possession, he drove from deep through a midfield that didn’t get set quickly enough and found the bottom corner. The match also paused earlier after Semenyo reported racist abuse from the crowd—condemned across the ground—a grim moment on a night that should have been about football. His response on the pitch was powerful, and it turned a comfortable scoreline into a test of Liverpool’s composure.

From the Bench and From the Kop: Chiesa’s Timing and Salah’s Closure

At 2–2 the rhythms of Anfield changed. Slot went to his bench, and Chiesa—eager, aggressive, alive to second balls—found the action he wanted. When a late cross pinballed through bodies, his technique did the rest: side-on, eyes steady, volley guided inside the post on 88 minutes. It was a first league goal to relish, the kind that can unlock a season.

Salah, who had compelled Petrovic into a top save early and then delivered the cross that created chaos before Chiesa’s strike, applied the final mark in stoppage time—low, precise, emphatic. He stayed out longest at the end, drinking in the chorus for Jota. On a night of memory, Liverpool’s closer wrote the underline.

Lessons for Slot as the Pieces Bed In: Ceiling High, Balance to Build

What Liverpool can take forward is clear. Ekitiké looks a fit both as scorer and connector. Frimpong’s width and Kerkez’s energy promise new angles, and Wirtz will grow as the timing with those around him settles. The late-game gears were still there when the contest turned tight—Anfield’s volume, Liverpool’s pressure on second phases, and the cool of senior finishers.

What needs tuning is just as obvious. The rest-defence behind those adventurous full-backs must be tidier; the first reaction after losses of possession needs to compress space rather than invite runners; the midfield’s screening, without Gravenberch, must rediscover its bite and positioning. These are solvable problems. Opening night often is a collage of new partnerships and old habits. Liverpool found a way while they’re still finding themselves.

The Path Immediately Ahead: Bank the Points, Build the Platform

Three points on a charged evening buy time for the work that follows. The schedule will test the integration of all these moving parts quickly—Newcastle away on Monday week, then Arsenal at Anfield the following Sunday—and that’s no bad thing. The best version of this team blends the incision we saw in the front three with the control that defined last season’s run.

Liverpool left the pitch to celebration, a tribute done right and a win earned the hard way. If this was the shaky first step of a title defence, it still landed on firm ground. And if the late surge is any indication, Anfield’s knack for deciding tight games remains exactly where Liverpool need it.