Liverpool continued their excellent start to the campaign with a slow-but-sure 3-0 victory at Burnley on Saturday, maintaining a perfect Premier League record.
Burnley 0-3 Liverpool
Premier League, Turf Moor
August 31, 2019
Goals
Wood OG 33′ (assist – Alexander-Arnold)
Mane 37′ (assist – Firmino)
Firmino 80′ (assist – Salah)
Ahead of the Reds’ trip to Turf Moor, Jurgen Klopp said he was unlikely to consider rotation before the September international break, and promptly named an unchanged matchday 18 from the 3-1 win over Arsenal last time out.
Burnley‘s route-one threat was apparent early on as Chris Wood drew a save from Adrian, before Mohamed Salah struck the near post with a smart strike on his left.
A tight opening 20 minutes saw Liverpool produce few clear-cut chances, but a clever ball over the top from Jordan Henderson saw Salah through against Nick Pope, with his rebounded effort sent just wide.
The visitors eventually got the opener through unlikely circumstances, with Trent Alexander-Arnold shaping up for a deep cross into the box, only for a deflection off Chris Wood sending it over Pope and into the top corner.
Minutes later and it was 2-0, with Ben Mee’s poor pass out trickling into the path of Roberto Firmino, who laid the ball on for Sadio Mane to stroke past Pope and in for a commanding half-time lead.
- Reds unchanged as Matip and Trent keep places in defence
- Trent’s cross loops over Pope via Wood for unlikely opening goal
- Mane doubles lead after Mee error; No. 10’s fourth in four starts
- Firmino becomes first Brazilian to score 50 goals in Premier League
- Liverpool keep up perfect start to the campaign with five in five
Liverpool continued to control the game after the break, with the front three of Salah, Mane and Firmino all impressive in their efforts, along with Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson on the overlap.
It should have been 3-0 just before the hour mark as Salah did well to wriggle into space on the edge of the box, but opted to send a limp right-footed shot for Pope to collect when an easy pass would have seen Firmino convert.
Minor fouls and time-wasting from the Reds worked to rile up the Burnley crowd and Sean Dyche’s players, which seemed to work in the away side’s favour as a low-quality Clarets outfit struggled to cope with the intensity—particularly against cool heads.
Firmino got his goal before the end, with the No. 9 becoming the first Brazilian to score 50 in the Premier League as he rifled home after picking the ball up from Salah.
Klopp then used the comfortable scoreline to introduce Divock Origi and Xherdan Shaqiri, with the Swiss making his first appearance of the season to help see out a fourth victory in four in the league.
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TIA Man of the Match: Roberto Firmino
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
Burnley: Pope; Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Pieters; Lennon, Cork, Westwood, McNeil; Wood, Barnes (Rodriguez 73′)
Subs not used: Hart, Taylor, Drinkwater, Hendrick, Vydra, Long
Liverpool: Adrian; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson (Oxlade-Chamberlain 71′), Wijnaldum; Salah, Mane (Origi 85′), Firmino (Shaqiri 85′)
Subs not used: Kelleher, Gomez, Milner, Lallana
Next Match: Newcastle (H) – Premier League – Saturday, September 14, 12.30pm (BST)
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