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| Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp secures first win as Kop boss in Capital One Cup Fourth Round |
JURGEN KLOPP clenched his fist at the final whistle before striding onto the pitch, shaking hands with some of his players and smothering others in bear hugs.
Passage into the quarter-finals of the Capital One Cup may only represent a small step in his grand plan for Liverpool, but the out-pouring of emotions from the German betrayed the belief that a sizeable stride was taken here. His reign is up and running as victory came at the fourth attempt. For Klopp, progress and positives went hand in hand.
A slender win over Bournemouth was not without its scares, but arrived courtesy of a sprinkling of youthful enterprise as Nathaniel Clyne’s pivotal first-half goal owed everything to the ingenuity of Joao Teixeira.
The Portuguese starlet showcased his shimmering skills in the build up to the 17th minute breakthrough and Liverpool’s success continued to be founded upon an eclectic mix.
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| Clyne opening the scoring for Liverpool in the 1-0 win against Bournemouth at Anfield |
Brazilian Roberto Firmino offered an inventive cameo to suggest the £29m attacker will have an increasing role to play over the coming weeks, while Hungarian goalkeeper Adam Bogdan produced a series of excellent saves from the first minute until last.
The sight of Matt Ritchie bursting through Liverpool’s defence in the final seconds of added time and forcing Bogdan to save low down brought the obligatory late bout of anxiety, but for once there was no sting in the tail.
There was optimism when Bournemouth visited back in August and expectation upon their return. In between, Liverpool had won just once inside 90-minutes and changed their manager following a start which made advancing in the competition all the more important.
The average age of Klopp’s starting line-up was a little more than 24 years with right-back Connor Randall, who turned 20 last week, and midfielder Cameron Brannagan, 19, making their first starts for the club.
They performed adeptly, snapping into tackles and offering composure in their distribution. If, as Klopp insists, he is not swayed by reputation then another full debutant, Teixeira, will have boosted his cause.
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| Roberto Firmino having an effort on goal as he produced a man-of-the-match performance |
The Portuguese starlet, 22, appeared as a substitute against Fulham in February 2014 when a title challenge was in its formative stages, but suffered a broken leg while on loan at Brighton last term and was considered by Bournemouth in the summer.
He was one embraced by Klopp at the end and deserved his moment having been instrumental in what proved the winning goal.
A move which started when Kolo Toure hacked a clearance up-field garnered momentum as Divock Origi left Charlie Daniels trailing in his slipstream and then proceeded to set pulses racing.
A pass inside picked out Firmino, who conjured a perfectly-weighted ball to find Teixeira’s burst into the penalty area and put him in a duel with Bournemouth goalkeeper Adam Federici.
Teixeira won hands down, producing an impudent back-heel few would have contemplated and which looked likely to bring him an audacious goal until Adam Smith smuggled the ball from off the goal-line.
Yet his clearance went straight to Clyne and he steered the ball into an unguarded net for his first Liverpool goal. It was perhaps indicative of Bournemouth’s luck that there was no reprieve, the mood anchored further by the reflexes of Bogdan who proved impregnable as Junior Stanislas, in particular, discovered.
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| Cameron Brannagan made his first start for Liverpool after signing a new contract with the club |
Firstly, a shot was repelled from close range after Harry Arter, making his first appearance of the season following a hip injury, pick-pocketed Joe Allen to launch a counter-attack.
Then a header was tipped over the bar before a free-kick aimed from wide on Bournemouth’s left was beaten away.
While there was a better tempo to Liverpool’s play, the visitors contributed to that by looking to attack themselves, there remained no second goal. Firmino, whose first-half nutmeg on Ritchie was a delight, will have been disappointed not to have extended the lead after 58 minutes.
Marc Pugh thought he had time on the ball 10-yards outside his penalty area, but did not see Firmino pouncing from the shadows and striding forward. A shot from just inside the area was dragged just across the face of the diving Federici’s goal.
A fizzing Teixeira free-kick was batted away in the closing stages by which time Brannagan, who has just signed a new contract, had been replaced by Lucas on 65 minutes on a night that will forever be etched onto his psyche.
Klopp will consider this an important pace forward, but in the expectation there is more to come.
LIVERPOOL (4-1-4-1): Bogdan; Randall, Toure (Skrtel 33), Lovren, Clyne; Allen; Ibe, Brannagan (Lucas 65), Firmino, Teixeira; Origi.
Booked: Allen. Goal: Clyne (17).
NEXT UP: Chelsea (a) Sat, PL
BOURNEMOUTH (4-3-3): Federici; Smith, Francis, Distin, Daniels; Arter (King 71), MacDonald, Stanislas; Ritchie, Kermorgant (Tomlin 71), Pugh. Booked: MacDonald.
NEXT UP: Southampton (a) Sun, PL.
Referee: M Jones (Cheshire).
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