Mohamed Salah back to his best as hat-trick fires Liverpool to victory rampant victory over Bournemouth

Bournemouth 0-4 Liverpool: The home side heavily protested Salah’s offside opener, but by the end there was no doubting that with the Egyptian in this kind of form the Reds can challenge Manchester City

Mohamed Salah scored a hat-trick as Liverpool thrashed Bournemouth 4-0 (Reuters)

The task confronting Liverpool as they attempt to overhaul Manchester City may appear daunting, but with Mohamed Salah in the side, anything seems possible.

So often a game-changer last season, the Egyptian so far has struggled to match those outstanding levels. His hat-trick at the Vitality Stadium, however, offered clear evidence his is back to his best.

Jurgen Klopp and his players know there is little margin for error if they are to keep pace with Pep Guardiola’s City side. But handed the chance to go top ahead of City’s meeting with Chelsea, they took full advantage with a controlled display against Bournemouth that was illuminated by Salah’s brilliance.

The forward put the visitors ahead in the 24th minute but saved his best for the second half when he produced two finishes reminiscent of last season, either side of a Steve Cook own-goal. On both occasions he capped a long, elusive run with a sublime finish as Liverpool maintained their unbeaten start with a fifth successive league win.

Klopp made five changes from the side that won 3-1 at Burnley including the enforced switch at right-back after Joe Gomez suffered a broken leg in a challenge with Ben Mee.

Perhaps with one eye on Tuesday’s crucial Champions League meeting with Napoli, the Reds manager opted to keep Trent Alexander-Arnold on the bench and instead ask James Milner to fill the gap on the right side of the visitors’ defence on his 500th Premier League appearance.

Further forward, Salah and Roberto Firmino were recalled although it took some time for the attacking pair to make an impression on a game that remained surprisingly cagey during the opening stages.

Salah opened the scoring midway through the first half (Getty) (Getty Images)

Bournemouth had ended a run of four successive defeats with a much-needed victory against Huddersfield Town in midweek but were forced to go into this game with Callum Wilson, the Cherries leading scorer. Wilson, who scored on his England debut earlier this month, had scored his eighth goal of the season against Huddersfield but a hamstring injury meant manager Eddie Howe was forced to reshape his attack, with Joshua King leading the line, supported by Ryan Fraser.

Liverpool dominated the early possession and might have gone ahead when Salah benefited from the first close offside call of the day as he found his way behind the home defence to collect a chipped pass from Xherdan Shaqiri, only to slice his effort well wide.

At that point, Bournemouth might have hopes Salah was having an off day. That hope was quickly dispelled, but only after Howe’s side had shown they were capable of troubling the visitors when King was involved in a neat exchange of passes before freeing David Brooks to fire a close range shot that was well dealt with by Alisson at his near post.

Salah poked the ball past Asmir Begoviic (AFP/Getty) (AFP/Getty Images)

Any optimism generated by that opening, however, disappeared within a minute when Salah breached the Bournemouth defences in the 25th minute. The Egyptian linked well with Firmino who tested Asmir Begovic from 20 yards, and when the Cherries keeper parried the ball back in front of goal, Salah was on hand to finish high into the net.

Bournemouth protested Salah had been offside when Firmino shot, and television replays confirmed they had a case, but the goal stood.

Liverpool took full control after the break with Salah adding a second in the 48th minute after running from halfway before placing the ball beyond Begovic.

Firmino and Van Dijk celebrate Steve Cook's own-goal (Getty) (Getty Images)

Cook then diverted Andy Roberston’s cross into his own net before Salah wrapped things up after collecting Adam Lallana’s through ball and advancing into the Bournemouth box before twice rounding Begovic to score.

Teams

Bournemouth (4-3-3): Begovic; Francis, Cook, Ake, Daniels (Rico 82); Brooks (Mousset 65), Lerma, Surman, Stanislas (Mings 83); Fraser; King.

Substitutes not used: Boruc, Pugh, Ibe, Defoe.

Liverpool (4-3-3): Alisson; Milner, Matip, van Dijk, Robertson; Keita (Lallana 65), Wijnaldum, Fabinho; Shaqiri (Mane 65), Salah, Firmino (Henderspn 81).

Substitutes not used: Mignolet, Sturridge, Origi, Alexander-Arnold.

Referee: L Mason