Chelsea keep perfect record with win over Bournemouth
LIVERPOOL GOALIE ALISSON WILL LEARN FROM HIS MISTAKE, KLOPP SAYS
Chelsea stretched their perfect league start to four games after second-half goals from substitute Pedro Rodriguez and Eden Hazard gave them a 2-0 home win over Bournemouth.
The result left Chelsea joint top with Liverpool on a maximum 12 points, with either Watford or Tottenham Hotspur able to move level with the early pace-setters when they meet at Vicarage Road today.
The home team dominated a dour first half at Stamford Bridge but it was Bournemouth who missed the best chances through Callum Wilson and former Chelsea defender Nathan Ake before Pedro broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute.
The Spaniard beat visiting keeper Asmir Begovic with a low shot from the edge of the penalty area after a fine onetwo with Olivier Giroud and Hazard sealed the contest in the closing stages with an arrowed shot from eight metres.
Meanwhile, Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said keeper Alisson would hopefully “learn from his mistake” after gifting Leicester City a goal in the visitors’ 2-1 win at the King Power Stadium yesterday.
With Liverpool two up and apparently heading for an easy win in the Premier League game, the Brazilian refused to take the easy option of just clearing his lines when put under pressure by a ■ poor Virgil van Dyke backpass after the break. Instead, Alisson tried to beat Kelechi Iheanacho with a step over but was robbed of the ball by the striker who centred for Algerian Rachid Ghezzal to find an empty net.
The mistake was eerily reminiscent of previous keeper Loris Karius’s performance in the Champions League final and clearly not what is expected of the £66-million newcomer.
“He knows it was his mistake but I told him the best game to do this was in a win,” said Klopp.
Less than a week earlier, Alisson 2 2 2 had been praised for his outrageous dink over Anthony Knockaert in the 1-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion, a piece of skill that was loudly cheered by supporters on the Kop. Klopp had reacted to that by saying: “That’s not too cool for a manager. If it works then it’s cool.”
He is unlikely to be so forgiving this time, having struggled so long to identify the right keeper to bring stability at the back.
“It was clear it would happen after last week but I didn’t expect it to happen in the next match,” joked Klopp. “We all have to learn from this,” he added in reference to the casual defending that put Alisson under pressure in the first place.