AFC Bournemouth defeated 3-1 by Liverpool in Premier League

Antoine Semenyo instantly justified his inclusion in the starting XI for the first time since March with a third-minute goal.

But Cherries' joy was short lived as Luis Diaz’s inventive finish and Mo Salah’s converted rebound from a missed penalty put the hosts 2-1 up at the break.

A dismissal for Alexis Mac Allister just before the hour mark gave Cherries hope, but it was quickly washed away when Diogo Jota popped up to hammer home the third and effectively seal the game off.

Aside from the inclusion of Semenyo in the first XI, Lloyd Kelly made his first appearance in a matchday squad following his recovery from injury.

The away side must have thought they had made a dream start when Jaidon Anthony rolled the ball home into an open net after Liverpool made a hash of Marcos Senesi’s long ball over the top.

Despite not touching the ball until after Trent Alexander-Arnold's mistouch, Anthony was deemed to be offside and the goal chalked off.

But before Liverpool could settle after an early scare, Cherries would be ahead.

Philip Billing pickpocketed Alexander-Arnold, feeding the ball to Dom Solanke.

Before the former Liverpool striker could get a shot away, the ball was knocked to the path of Semenyo, who smashed home a third-minute opener.

Sensing their side were struggling, Anfield roared to Liverpool’s defence.

A corner for the hosts was almost turned home, Virgil van Dijk heading the ball onto the crossbar.

But Cherries were still causing problems for Liverpool with their high press.

A poor first touch from Alisson caused the keeper to fly into a challenge to try and recover the ball, missing it completely and taking out Anthony.

He only saw yellow for the challenge.

Liverpool were still creating more chances than their guests, however, and their pressure eventually told.

Senesi could not quite intercept Jota’s pass into the box, deflecting it towards Diaz, but the Colombian still had a lot to do to equalise.

He flicked the ball up to allow his second touch to send it goalwards, leaving Neto with nothing he could do.

The Cherries goalkeeper would have the same feeling again for the second goal.

Joe Rothwell’s needless foul on Dominik Szoboszlai in the corner of the penalty area saw match official Thomas Bramall point to the spot.

Neto saved Salah’s initial effort, only for the rebound to fall kindly to the Egyptian to smash home.

Cherries managed to see out the final 10 minutes of the period, but Liverpool’s efforts offensively only intensified after the restart.

But for all their threat, the hosts were unable to find the finishing touches to their moves.

The constant pressure only alleviated briefly when Mac Allister was harshly dismissed for a late challenge on Ryan Christie.

But the man advantage did not pay off for Cherries, who quicky found themselves down by two goals.

A deflected Szoboszlai strike was initially saved by Neto, only for the rebound to squirm into the path of Jota who blasted home Liverpool’s third.

After the third goal the game became flat, which allowed Cherries to at least get forward with more regularity.

Substitutes Kieffer Moore and Justin Kluivert went close, the former blasting over before the latter draw a big stop out of Alisson in the Liverpool goal.

Another player off the bench, Hamed Traore, produced the best chance, a mazy run through the penalty box ending in a shot that forced Alisson down low to push it away from danger.

Cherries: Neto, Aarons, Zabarnyi, Senesi (Traore, 84), Kerkez; Billing, Rothwell (Kelly, 75), Semenyo (Brooks, 75), Christie (Moore, 63), Anthony (Kluivert, 63), Solanke.

Unused subs: Radu (g/k), Mepham, Hill, Kilkenny.

Booked: Semenyo, Neto, Anthony.

Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold (Gomez, 75), van Dijk, Konate, Robertson, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Gakpo (Endo, 63), Diaz (Tsimikas, 87), Salah (Nunez, 87), Jota (Elliott, 75).

Unused subs: Kelleher (g/k), Matip, Bajcetic, Doak.

Booked: Alisson.

Dismissed: Mac Allister.

Referee: Thomas Bramall