Coutinho’s class is cherry on top of cake for Klopp
THIS result will have cheered up a tetchy Jurgen Klopp a bit. Mind you, watching Philippe Coutinho in action yesterday would have brought a smile to anyone’s face.
The little Brazilian had one of those days where he simply seems to drift across the turf, defying laws that apply to every other player on the pitch.
Every other player that is except his team-mate Mohamed Salah. Combine the two together, and few teams can resist. Bournemouth certainly could not.
Coutinho hit the post, scored one sublime goal and made another as Liverpool romped to victory in the South Coast air they seem to like, 15 days after walloping Brighton 5-1 on their own patch.
Goals from Coutinho, Dejan Lovren, Salah and Roberto Firmino gave Klopp’s team their fourth away win on the bounce after two frustrating draws at Anfield had left Klopp griping.
Manchester City are still way out of sight at the top but this win moved Liverpool up to fourth place.
Barcelona offered £114million for Coutinho in the summer and are expected to come back next month. On this form it is easy to see why.
As for Salah, he now has 20 goals in 26 games – the first Liverpool player since Luis Suarez in 2014 to reach that mark and he did not reach it until January 1 that season.
The warning signs were there for the Cherries right from the start, as Coutinho headed just over from an Alex OxladeChamberlain cross.
Then Coutinho saw his curling free-kick come back off the post after Nathan Ake had upended Firmino and Salah shot over.
Bournemouth finally cracked in the 20th minute, as Andrew Robertson fed Coutinho on the left. He set off on a mesmerising run that left Simon Francis and Lewis Cook floundering, sliding his low shot beautifully inside Asmir Begovic’s near post.
Salah, right, went close again before Bournemouth’s fragility was exposed once more.
This time Coutinho’s corner was flicked on at the near post by Georgino Wijnaldum. Firmino somehow hooked the ball back into play at the far post, and Lovren dived to head in. Bournemouth were not helped when Josh King had to limp off injured but it was actually his replacement, Junior Stanislas, who almost helped put them back into the game. His through-ball was pounced on by Jermain Defoe.
His shot beat keeper Simon Mignolet but Defoe could only watch in agony as the ball rebounded back off the inside of the post.
The retribution was never likely to be long in coming. Begovic pulled off a superb save after a glorious Coutinho flick put Salah clean through. But then Oxlade-Chamberlain put Salah away on the right again and this time there was no escape. The hapless Charlie Daniels was turned inside out once again, Ake was then left standing as Salah cut back inside and his hooked shot found the far corner. Bournemouth had fought back from 3-1 down with 15 minutes left at the Vitality Stadium last season to shock Klopp’s men with a 4-3 win. A repeat never looked likely. Eddie Howe’s side tried to hit back, as Ryan Fraser struck the side netting, but Klopp’s men were simply lethal on the break, Oxlade-Chamberlain striking the outside of the post. A Bournemouth reply only really seemed likely to come from Defoe, but Mignolet reacted well to push his shot away. The Cherries have not won in six games and lie only a point above the drop zone.
Goal No4 arrived when once again Coutinho whipped in another deadly accurate cross and Firmino, who looked suspiciously offside, was there before Francis to glance his header past Begovic. That must have kept the boss happy.