AA RIDES TO THE RESCUE

Adli punishes Slot's men with late winner after fightback

- BY MARK JONES

LIVERPOOL'S hopes of retaining their Premier League title have long since sailed away, but their shipwreck of a season hit new rough water at Bournemouth.

After a dreadful first half that saw them fall 2-0 behind inside 35 minutes to strikes from Evanilson and Alex Jimenez, Virgil van Dijk header and Dominik Szoboszlai’s free-kick looked to have earned a fifth straight league draw. But a failure to deal with James Hill's long throw in stoppage-time ended with Amine Adli bundling home a scarcely believable winner to condemn the Reds to a seventh league loss of the season.

In opening exchanges that were played in torrential rain and driving wind, Liverpool were the quicker to find their groove.

Mo Salah, on his first Premier League start for two months, drove an effort over the bar from distance, before the Egyptian’s link up with Florian Wirtz ended with Hill blocking a Szoboszlai shot.