Chiesa rises to the rescue as Liverpool repel Cherries' fightback on emotional opening night

The Italian was the unlikely hero after a hectic beginning to the new campaign which saw moving tributes to Diogo Jota, VAR controversy, a reported racist incident and one hell of a Bournemouth fightback before the hosts reply

FRIDAY NIGHT ITALIAN: Liverpool's Federico Chiesa, left, celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Bournemouth at Anfield stadium in Liverpool, England, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. Pic: AP Photo/Ian Hodgson

Liverpool 4 Bournemouth 2 

Perhaps the only thing more difficult than winning the Premier League is to defend it.

After splashing out more than a quarter of a billion pounds this summer to boost their cause, a largely forgotten signing from last year in Federico Chiesa helped ensure Liverpool made the best possible start towards achieving a feat they last managed in the early 1980s — in terms of the result, if not the performance.

In a contest that is likely to have repercussions after Bournemouth striker Antoine Semenyo's two goals were accompanied by allegedly being the victim of racist abuse from the stands, Arne Slot's men were made to work hard for their opening night victory by visitors who exploited deficiencies better teams will make even more of unless even more money is spent to quickly addresses worrying issues in a defence that looked far from secure.

Somewhere in South London, the bean-counters at Crystal Palace have added an extra £10m to the valuation of their captain Marc Guehi, the England defender so coveted by the Merseyside club.

Liverpool could yet still strengthen at the other end of the pitch after Newcastle's Alexander Isak went on strike as the sulky Swede stepped up his one-man effort to alienate the whole of Tyneside by forcing a move to the champions this month.

Slot's need to further strengthen a forward line is clearly less pressing, given the way Hugo Ekitike has hit the ground running since snubbing a potential move to St James' Park from Eintracht Frankfurt to make Anfield his home earlier in the summer.

The French striker, a scorer in the Community Shield defeat by Palace, made it two in two appearances with a composed finish as half-time approached, before providing the second after the break for Cody Gakpo as the Kop swallowed up its first goal of the new campaign.

It provided a fitting tribute to Diogo Jota, whose family were present to see the outpouring of emotion for Liverpool's desperately missed but never forgotten number 20.

Without three of the back four that steered them to an impressive ninth-place finish in May - one of those in Milos Kerkez turning out for the opposition - Bournemouth's best form of defence was to try and attack the hosts. If nothing else, it made for an entertainingly open curtain-raiser at the outset of the Premier League's 34th season.

In the wake of the emotional tribute to Jota, the visitors weathered the predictably early storm, which conceivably could have rendered the contest over inside the first five minutes.

Djordje Petrovic tipped over a Mo Salah effort when the Liverpool forward cut in from the right to try his luck. The Egyptian soon turned provider with an inviting cross which Virgil van Dijk headed wastefully over from close range.

Bournemouth slowly got to grips with the task in front of them, and twice had decent openings to break the deadlock before the hosts eventually did. Semenyo easily out-muscled Kerkez at the far post but couldn't keep his sliding effort on target. Marcus Tavernier was equally as wasteful when his scuffed shot from a dozen yards failed to test Alisson.

They proved to be costly misses as Liverpool took a 37th-minute lead. Ekitike accepted a regulation pass from Alexis MacAllister 40 yards from goal before making the most of a slice of luck as the ball fell invitingly following an ineffectual block from Marcos Senesi to advance and confidently wrong-foot an exposed Petrovic from inside the area.

Given Senesi's eyebrow-raising escape from what looked like a deliberate handball when the last line of defence on halfway minutes earlier, perhaps a touch of footballing karma was at play in the defender's unwanted role in the opener.

Within five minutes of the break the lead was doubled, Ekitike squaring the ball for Gakpo to run parallel with the goal before finding the bottom corner from 15 yards. AFC Bournemouth, to use their full title, knew their pre-season position as Premier League leaders, via the medium of alphabetic order, would soon be at an end.

Florian Wirtz almost joined Ekitike as a Premier League debutant goal-scorer when the German shot narrowly wide from a Dominik Szoboszlai ball. Nine times last season Slot's side earned victory by a single goal, and it looked like they might have to follow suit this time when the visitors not undeservedly halved the deficit with 25 minutes remaining.

Liverpool were ruthlessly undone by a swift 60-yard counter-attack as Semenyo swept home David Brooks' sublime low cross from the left, not for the first time the ponderous Ibrahima Konate floundering in an attempt to find a way back after being caught out of position.

Liverpool failed to heed the warning as Bournemouth levelled with 15 minutes left. The goal came from the hosts surrendering possession on the edge of their opponents' area, Semenyo picking up the ball and being allowed to run unchallenged to the opposite box where he beat Allison with a low finish from 15 yards.

A draw would have been a more than fair outcome, but Chiesa had other ideas, coming off the bench to volley home with two minutes remaining after the Italian pounced on something seen more from the hosts - defensive hesitancy.

There was still time for Salah to put some undeserved gloss on the outcome as Liverpool's mercurial winger found the bottom corner with an angled drive deep into stoppage time to cap an opening night that nevertheless raised far more questions than answers for Slot.

Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Alisson 5; Frimpong 6 (Endo 60, 6), Konate 3, van Dijk 5, Kerkez 4 (Robertson 60, 5); MacAllister 6, Szoboszlai 6 (Jones 72, 5); Salah 7, Witrz 5 (Chiesa 82, 7), Gakpo 7; Ekitike 8 (Gomez 72, 6).

Bournemouth (4-2-3-1): Petrovic 6; Smith 6, Diakite 6, Senesi 6, Truffert 7; Adams 6, Scott 6 (Traore 74, 6); Brooks 7 (Winterburn 84, 6), Tavernier 7, Semenyo 8; Evanilson 6.

Referee: Anthony Taylor