Liverpool have advanced from the EFL Cup fourth round after securing a 2-1 victory against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Wednesday night.
A close-range finish from Cody Gakpo just after the half-hour mark was cancelled out by Cherries attacker Justin Kluivert midway through the second half, but Darwin Nunez came off the bench and netted a stunning match-winner 20 minutes from time to help Jurgen Klopp's side booked their place in the EFL Cup quarter-finals.
While Andoni Iraola made just three changes to the Bournemouth side that beat Burnley 2-1 in the Premier League last weekend, Klopp opted to make eight changes to the Liverpool lineup that began the 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest, with Dominik Szoboszlai joining Mohamed Salah and Gakpo in a new-looking front three.
Amidst the challenging wet and windy conditions of Storm Ciaran down on the South coast, Liverpool failed to make a convincing start to the contest, losing possession with a few sloppy passes into midfield, and Caoimhin Kelleher was the busier of the two goalkeeper in the opening exchanges.
Indeed, the Reds shot-stopper denied Kluivert twice within the space of a few minutes, firstly keeping out an effort at the near post before parrying a low-driven strike and keeping out the rebound from Dominic Solanke.
Salah then sliced Liverpool's first effort of the match wide, before Ryan Christie got in on the act at the other end as he fired a curling strike from the edge of the area narrowly wide of the far post.
Just before the half-hour mark, Harvey Elliott was presented with a decent opportunity to break the deadlock, but he could only place a tame effort from a central position around 10 yards out straight down the throat of Cherries goalkeeper Ionut Radu.
However, Liverpool were not ruing that missed chance for too long as they opened the scoring less than five minutes later through Gakpo – the Dutchman netting his second goal in as many EFL Cup matches this season.
A Liverpool corner was initially headed clear by Bournemouth to Elliott on the edge of the area, and his powerful deflected strike towards goal was parried by Radu, before Gakpo reacted first to smash the ball home from just a few yards out.
Salah and Szoboszlai both came close to doubling Liverpool's lead on the stroke of half time before Kelleher kept out another long-range effort from Christie to ensure that the visitors boasted a slender lead heading into the interval.
There was a promising sign of intent from Bournemouth after the break and they enjoyed a confident spell of possession inside Liverpool's half, with Cherries duo Solanke and Alex Scott in particular causing problems.
After Solanke made light work of Joel Matip and fired a shot into the side netting from a tight angle, Joe Gomez made a vital intervention to head a dangerous in-swinging corner from Scott off the line, bailing out his goalkeeper Kelleher following his weak effort to meet the delivery.
The first 15 minutes of the second half certainly belonged to Bournemouth, and their perseverance in the final third was eventually rewarded with an equaliser on the 64-minute mark, courtesy of a landmark goal from Kluivert – his first for the Cherries since joining the club in the summer.
Scott was a constant threat from set-pieces all night, and he managed to take advantage of the strong winds to whip a superb delivery towards the back post where Kluivert was unmarked to head home, despite Gomez's best efforts to clear another attempt off the line.
However, Bournemouth's celebrations were short-lived as Liverpool put themselves back in front just seven minutes later when substitute Nunez admirably made something out of nothing from the left flank, cutting inside and firing a wonderful dipping strike over Radu and into the far corner.
Iraola's men pushed for a late equaliser and continued to look threatening from crosses, particularly with the presence of target man Kieffer Moore in the final third, but Liverpool managed to see out the game to secure their spot in the EFL Cup quarter-finals for just the third time in the last seven years.
Klopp and co will endeavour to claim their fifth successive win in all competitions when they travel to Luton Town in the Premier League on Sunday, while Bournemouth will shift their focus to Saturday's daunting trip to the Etihad Stadium to face champions Manchester City. body check tags ::
