Liverpool got the benefit of the decisions as they beat Bournemouth 1-0 this evening courtesy of a maiden Reds goal from summer signing Christian Benteke.
The Belgian scored 26 minutes into his Anfield debut, although Philippe Coutinho was in an offside position and was interfering with play in the build-up.
Bournemouth had earlier had a goal harshly ruled out when captain Tommy Elphick was punished for an apparent foul on Dejan Lovren in the process of heading home a corner.
But the Cherries could not find the net again as they suffered successive defeats at the start of their time in the Premier League. Liverpool have now won two from two.
The Cherries thought that they had opened their Premier League account on five minutes, but referee Craig Pawson ruled that Elphick had unfairly climbed on Lovren.
Liverpool were nearly caught out from a set piece again when Josh King guided a delivery narrowly over the crossbar as Bournemouth pushed forward fearlessly in the early stages.
The hosts curbed the Bournemouth momentum and had their first chance in the 25th minute when Benteke collected Matt Ritchie’s loose pass and fired a swerving shot over from 20 yards.
The Belgian was off the mark for his new club just two minutes later, poking home from close range at the back post, although Coutinho’s attempts to reach Jordan Henderson’s cross from an offside position distracted visiting goalkeeper Artur Boruc and should have seen the assistant raise his flag.
Henderson later went off injured – with James Milner taking on the captain’s armband. Brendan Rodgers will be hopeful that his new skipper will be fit for the trip to Arsenal next Monday.
Coutinho could have doubled Liverpool’s advantage before the break and squandered a couple more opportunities after the interval as the Reds failed to kill off last season’s Championship winners.
And Eddie Howe’s side very nearly snatched an equaliser when Ritchie met King’s low cross with a fierce first-time effort which clipped the outside of the post, with Simon Mignolet beaten.
The crossbar denied Benteke a second goal on his dream Anfield bow, but Liverpool saw the remaining minutes out to join Leicester City and the Manchester clubs on maximum points.
Meanwhile, Bournemouth and Sunderland are the only two teams not to pick up a point from either of their first two games. Howe will argue that could, and perhaps should, not be the case.
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