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Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola felt that his team could have earned something from its 4-2 defeat against Liverpool at Anfield. Federico Chiesa was the late hero with a dramatic winner.
Goals from Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo put Liverpool two goals up, but with 14 minutes left of normal time, Bournemouth had drawn level through an Antoine Semenyo brace. He netted a first when Dominik Szoboszlai gave the ball away and the Cherries countered, and the second when the host allowed its opponent a five-versus-two.
Chiesa, though, popped up with a cool finish as the clock ticked towards 90 minutes. And Mohamed Salah kept up his exceptional record of scoring on the opening day to cap the victory.
"It has been a very good game of football," Iraola told the BBC. "They win the points, but we did a lot of good things too.
"Even at 1-0 at half-time, I was really happy. At the end you can't concede four goals but even with at 2-2 it looked like we had energy.
"But Liverpool, when they need it, they find the extra energy. It is a shame as we were really, really close."
In the first half of the game, the match was halted temporarily by the match official, Anthony Taylor, because of an allegation of racist abuse directed at Semenyo.
"Straight away, Antoine and the referee told us," Iraola explained. "The person has been identified. It is a big shame these things keep happening.
"First game of the season, a lovely game of football, and I have to speak about these things happening. It's a big shame."
Arne Slot reiterated those comments on the racist allegations in an interview for television. "It is obvious we do not want this in football," he said.
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"We definitely don't want this at Anfield. Unfortunately, it is part of the story because we should talk about the great tribute for Diogo Jota. This should never happen in football, let alone Anfield."
Liverpool is next in action a week on Monday against Newcastle United. Bournemouth has a home game with Wolves next Saturday, when it will look to bounce back from a disappointing opening-day defeat.
Liverpool.com says: Bournemouth looked very impressive, with Semenyo a key man. The winger is one of the few players to have done well last season and stayed, alongside the likes of Justin Kluivert. He and Iraola are excellent, and the Cherries should have another solid campaign.
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