Mohamed Salah Penalty Miss Sees Liverpool Lose Shock Defeat to Bournemouth — Result, Highlights, Analysis

Bournemouth gave their prospects of staying in the Premier League a massive lift with a 1-0 victory against Liverpool at the Vitality Stadium. Philip Billing scored the only goal of the match in the first half, but Bournemouth received a fortunate break when Mohamed Salah failed to convert a penalty in the second half. The result leaves Liverpool's hopes of securing a top four spot in jeopardy.

Victory ensured that the hosts moved out of the relegation zone, while their opponents fell short of the chance to overtake Tottenham and take fourth place. Last week's demolishing 7-0 win against Manchester United seemed a distant memory as Liverpool's performance was far from what was anticipated, highlighting that the race for Champions League qualification is nothing if not unpredictable.

Liverpool had recently rejuvenated their top-four aspirations with a five-game unbeaten streak in the Premier League.
However, three out of those four victories occurred at their home ground of Anfield, clearly illustrating the importance of playing at a familiar venue.

Klopp's side have only come away with three victories in the league this season, a poor record that was added to today with a defeat against the team at the bottom of the division.
Despite dropping points in their travels, Tottenham and Newcastle United are still in the running for a place in the Champions League, but they must begin to show more promise away from home if they are to have any chance of success.

Liverpool surprisingly went 33 Premier League games without winning a penalty prior to John Brooks awarding one in the second half of this game.
The Reds were somewhat fortunate to gain this one, as it was the result of Adam Smith's arm flailing and unintentionally connecting with the ball.

However, the decision did not bring Liverpool's penalty misery to an end, as Salah squandered the opportunity by shooting wide of the target.
This was an uncharacteristic miss from the Egyptian, though it could be argued that he was simply not used to taking penalties given the lack of recent successes for the team from the spot.
Therefore, the wait for a successful Liverpool penalty continues for now.

Bournemouth's successful showing here highlighted the miscalculation of writing off any team at the bottom of the Premier League. This result demonstrated how those teams above them should be apprehensive, as only six points separate current bottom-sitters Southampton and 12th-placed Crystal Palace.