Christian Benteke first goal for Liverpool got the Reds off to a winning start at home as they triumphed 1-0 over AFC Bournemouth at Anfield on Monday.
The Belgian opened his account for the Merseyside club when he latched on to a Jordan Henderson cross after 26 minutes, sealing Liverpool's second Barclays Premier League win in as many matches, both by the same scoreline. AFC Bournemouth’s protests that Philippe Coutinho had sought to meet Henderson’s from an offside decision were dismissed.
Eddie Howe, the AFC Bournemouth manager who also saw a Tommy Elphick header disallowed after five minutes, will be encouraged by how his team responded in the second half. After Matt Ritchie had hit a post with a powerful drive, Eunan O'Kane also went close, but the home side held on to join Leicester City and the two Manchester clubs as the Barclays Premier League's only sides to have taken maximum points from their opening two fixtures.
Liverpool were unchanged from their opening-weekend victory at Stoke City, but it was AFC Bournemouth, who brought Max Gradel and O'Kane in for Marc Pugh and Dan Gosling, who thought they had taken the lead after five minutes.
Elphick rose above Dejan Lovren to head home from a corner, but the AFC Bournemouth captain was deemed to have impeded the Croat in climbing for the ball, prompting referee Craig Pawson to award Liverpool a free-kick.
AFC Bournemouth did not look overawed by the occasion on their first Barclays Premier League away fixture, and Liverpool, despite dominating possession, were struggling to carve out any clear-cut opportunities. That was until Benteke met Henderson's left-wing delivery to score at the far post.
Benteke's goal came after a spell of Liverpool pressure and the hosts continued to threaten, with Henderson fizzing a wonderful first-time effort agonisingly over moments later.
After a quiet start, Liverpool had found their stride, and Coutinho could have done better when he guided the ball wide of the left post from 12 yards two minutes from the interval.
After the restart, James Milner failed to get a clean connection on a Jordon Ibe cross early in the second half, sending the ball trickling wide. After Liverpool captain Henderson had left the field to be replaced by Emre Can, AFC Bournemouth started to look capable of finding an equaliser.
Ritchie rifled a fierce strike against the outside of the right upright, before O'Kane found the side-netting from a tight angle.
Liverpool weathered that storm to hold out for the full three points, just failing to add further gloss on the victory as Benteke hit the crossbar from close range in stoppage time.
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