The 2025-26 Premier League season got off to an entertaining start, with defending champions Liverpool claiming a 4-2 win over Bournemouth at Anfield on Friday, Aug. 15.
The match was infused with emotion from the start, as fans from both teams honored Diogo Jota, the late Liverpool player who passed away in July after a car crash. The Reds eventually rode the crowd support to a first-half lead, with Hugo Ekitiké marking his Liverpool debut by scoring a 37th-minute opener.
Ekitiké would add an assist early in the second half, setting up Cody Gakpo to give Liverpool a two-goal cushion, but the game’s final half-hour ended up being an adventure. Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo — who in the first half reported to the refereeing crew that a racist remark had been directed at him — struck twice in an eight-minute span, flipping what seemed like a comfortable Liverpool win on its head.
However, the hosts recovered from an unlikely source. Federico Chiesa, who has seen his place on Liverpool’s depth chart fall due to an influx of attacking talent, rewarded manager Arne Slot for sending him on as a late substitute, slotting home an 89th-minute game-winning goal that sent Anfield into raptures. Deep in stoppage time, Liverpool star Mohamed Salah bagged the fourth, with the Egypt forward now tied with Andy Cole for fourth all-time in Premier League goals with 187.
Here’s how the Premier League game between Liverpool and Bournemouth went down, including goal highlights and commentary:
Liverpool vs. Bournemouth highlights
Liverpool vs. Bournemouth: Reds claim 4-2 win in season opener
The Premier League has gotten off to an entertaining start, with Liverpool claiming a 4-2 win despite having thrown away an early two-goal lead.
Debutant Hugo Ekitiké had a goal and an assist in the game’s first 49 minutes to give Liverpool a 2-0 lead, but Antoine Semenyo — who in the first half reported to the refereeing crew that a racist remark had been directed at him, apparently from the stands — stunned Anfield with two second-half goals in an eight-minute span.
However, Liverpool recovered, with substitute Federico Chiesa scoring an 89th-minute winner, and Mohamed Salah sealed the deal with a fourth in stoppage time.
Liverpool goal! Salah makes sure of Premier League win
Who else but Mohamed Salah could arrive to make sure Liverpool doesn’t let this second lead of the night slip away.
Four minutes into stoppage time, a simple ball over the top catches Bournemouth napping, and Salah charged across from the right to gain possession.
The Cherries managed to collapse two defenders to confront him, but Salah is a master of these situations, putting in a feint before zipping an angled shot past Djordje Petrović to make it 4-2.
That’s 187 Premier League goals for Salah, tied for the fourth-most in league history (now level with former Manchester United striker Andy Cole).
And before this entry is done, that’s full time.
Liverpool goal! Substitute Chiesa pounces late
Liverpool may just have escaped with a win, with Arne Slot’s final substitute Federico Chiesa improvising to steer home an 89th minute goal that may well be the game-winner.
Chiesa has been overlooked with all of Liverpool’s costly offseason additions, but the Italy winger did very well to read an awkward bounce off of the back of a Bournemouth defender.
Shuffling his feet, Chiesa wisely chose placement over power, finding a gap to fire home what may be a dramatic game-winning goal.
Liverpool makes last sub, removing Wirtz
Arne Slot has used his fifth and final substitution in the 82nd minute, replacing Florian Wirtz with Federico Chiesa.
Despite this being the first of 38 games, these could be a very big 10-plus minutes to play. Liverpool picked up 46 of a possible 57 points at Anfield last season, so this would be a disappointment even before you factor in how they held a 2-0 lead in this game.
Bournemouth goal! Semenyo stunner ties this up 2-2
Anfield is stunned as Antoine Semenyo has struck again, making it 2-2 in the 77th minute.
Liverpool was caught with way too many players forward, and Bournemouth needed two simple passes to create a four-on-two break going the other way. Hamed Traorè found Semenyo to start the break, and Liverpool simply never had the options to stop the Ghana winger’s charging run up the middle.
From there, Semenyo had to make one quick move to open up a shot at the top of the box, burying a shock equalizer.
Liverpool vs. Bournemouth: Substitutions for both teams
Arne Slot has made two more substitutions in the 72nd minute. Curtis Jones is on for Alexis Mac Allister, and defender Joe Gomez has replaced Hugo Ekitiké.
Ekitiké gets a warm round of applause after marking his debut with a goal and what would be a game-winning assist if Bournemouth can’t manage another goal.
It looks as though Liverpool has Gomez at right back, with Wataru Endo moving into the midfield. Dominik Szoboszlai has moved up a line, becoming an attacking midfielder, while Florian Wirtz is now the center forward.
Two minutes later, Bournemouth makes their first change, replacing Alex Scott with Hamed Traorè. That appears to be a like-for-like change.
Bournemouth goal! Semenyo gets Cherries on the board
Liverpool has barely given Bournemouth a sniff of goal, but the Cherries are back in this game after a razor-sharp transition attack ends in a 64th minute Antoine Semenyo goal.
Bournemouth broke out, finding left winger David Brooks in space out wide, and the situation was suddenly a three-on-three.
Brooks delivered a perfect ball, and Semenyo’s hard work to beat everyone to the spot despite starting on the other touchline paid off, with Alisson not able to keep the shot out despite getting a hand to it.
Game on at Anfield.
Liverpool substitutions: Frimpong, Kerkez depart
At the hour mark, Liverpool is the first team to make substitutions, with Arne Slot switching it up at either fullback position.
Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez jog off, with Wataru Endo on at right back and Andrew Robertson setting up on the left.
Liverpool goal! Gakpo makes it 2-0
And just like that, it’s 2-0 Liverpool, leaving Bournemouth with a mountain to climb in the 49th minute.
It’s pretty simple stuff in the aftermath of a corner kick: Hugo Ekitiké held possession inside the box, drawing a defender and showing some patience for Cody Gakpo’s run to arrive.
With Bournemouth not locked in, Gakpo didn’t even have to sprint to find the gap, and from there the Dutch attacker moved play towards the middle before steering a simple shot into the bottom corner.
Like Ekitiké before him, Gakpo offered a celebration commemorating the late Diogo Jota.
Liverpool vs. Bournemouth back underway
No substitutions from either team as the Premier League’s first game of the 2025-26 season is back underway for the second half.
Liverpool vs. Bournemouth: Reds lead 1-0 at halftime
Halftime arrives just as this game threatened to break open, with both teams creating chances in the final seconds.
It’s 1-0 Liverpool, which is more or less a fair reflection of play.
There haven’t been a ton of genuine opportunities, but there are several talking points: a VAR decision that is not going to be popular in most quarters, an alleged racist remark from a Liverpool fan directed at Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo, and Hugo Ekitiké’s first goal after a $105 million summer move to Liverpool.
Liverpool goal! Ekitike strikes on his debut
Much has been made of Liverpool’s spending spree this season, and one of the newcomers has delivered on his debut.
Hugo Ekitiké has the first goal of the 2025-26 Premier League season, burying a golden chance in the 37th minute. The French striker seemed to have lost out to Marcos Senesi, but the Bournemouth defender’s tackle was sloppy, and Ekitiké was able to reclaim possession, waltz in alone and fire past Djordje Petrović.
Ekitiké added a touch of class with his celebration, holding up a ’20’ symbol with his hands to honor Diogo Jota, who wore the No. 20 shirt (which, since his passing, has been retired).
Liverpool vs. Bournemouth pauses over reported racist remark
Play at Anfield was halted for nearly two minutes, with referee Antony Taylor bringing both managers together as well as the captains.
The reason for the stoppage is unclear at first, but USA Network relayed from the Premier League that Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo had reported that a racist remark had been directed at him.
There are no further details at this point, and play has resumed.
Liverpool looking for early red card
Bournemouth may be fortunate to escape an early moment at midfield with 11 players.
A bouncing ball confounded Marcos Senesi at midfield, with the Bournemouth center back eventually making clear contact with his fingertips on what could have otherwise been a breakaway from midfield.
The situation was checked by VAR, who ruled that the ball’s earlier contact with Senesi’s thigh is what caused the hand ball, a relatively recent interpretation referees are to use in situations like this. However, replays seem to show that the contact with Senesi missed his arm and took another bounce before the Argentine tipped the ball out of trouble with his hand.
Liverpool isn’t happy, but this game remains 11-on-11 as VAR ruled there was not a denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity (DOGSO).
Around the 27th minute, USA Network’s broadcast team said that the Premier League’s official choice on the play was that the opportunity for Liverpool wasn’t clear enough to be declared ‘obvious,’ rather than the decision being about the handling offense.
Liverpool vs. Bournemouth: Premier League season kicks off
Following a touching minute’s silence to commemorate the passing of Liverpool player Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva (who died in a car crash in July), the 2025-26 Premier League season has officially kicked off.
Liverpool has us underway at Anfield.
Liverpool vs. Bournemouth: Time, TV channel and how to watch Premier League soccer
Time: 3 p.m. ET
Location: Anfield (Liverpool, England)
TV: USA Network (English), Universo (Spanish)
Stream: Fubo
Watch Liverpool vs. Bournemouth on Fubo (free trial)
Liverpool lineup: Starting XI vs. Bournemouth
Liverpool’s first starting 11 of the 2025-26 Premier League season includes all four of its most costly additions from the summer transfer window, with Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké, Milos Kirkez, and Jeremie Frimpong all included in Arne Slot’s lineup.
Here is the complete starting 11 to face Bournemouth:
Bournemouth lineup: Starting XI vs. Liverpool
Bournemouth has announced Andoni Iraola’s starting lineup to take on Premier League champions Liverpool. USMNT star Tyler Adams is unsurprisingly on the list, as is another former MLS player in goalkeeper Djordje Petrović (who joined the Cherries this summer in a reported $33.8 million transfer from Chelsea).
Here is the full Bournemouth starting 11:
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