Bournemouth 0-1 Liverpool: Isak settles a quiet afternoon

Bournemouth 0-1 Liverpool was decided by one shot in a match that produced very few of them. Alexander Isak finished right-footed from the centre of the box into the bottom left corner on fifty-seven minutes, and a minute later Michael Oliver booked him for the celebration. Nothing else went in at either end.

Between them the two sides had twenty-one attempts and five on target, three of them Liverpool’s. It was the quietest match of the matchday by some distance, and it took Liverpool to nine points from five without a defeat.

One goal, and a booking for enjoying it

The first half produced nothing worth recording beyond a Dominik Szoboszlai booking in the forty-sixth minute for a bad foul. Isak’s goal arrived eleven minutes into the second half and it is the whole of the match: a right-footed finish from the centre of the box, low into the left corner.

The yellow card that followed on fifty-eight is the sort of detail that survives a forgettable afternoon. Antonio Silva was booked for Bournemouth on eighty-one, also for a bad foul, and that was the extent of the incident.

• Alexander Isak (Liverpool), 57 minutes: right-footed, from the centre of the box
• Alexander Isak (Liverpool), 58 minutes: booked for excessive celebration
• Shots: Bournemouth 9 (2 on target), Liverpool 12 (3 on target)
• Possession: Bournemouth 46.2%, Liverpool 53.8%
• Corners: three each
• Saves: two each

Bournemouth have drawn three and won none

Bournemouth are the only side in the division still without a win after five matches. They lost 2-1 at Manchester City on the opening weekend, then drew 1-1 with Everton, 2-2 at Newcastle United and 2-2 with Brentford, and have now lost at home to Liverpool. Three points from five, seventeenth, six scored and eight conceded.

The pattern of the three draws was that they kept scoring; the pattern of the two defeats is that they have not. Nine shots and two on target against a Liverpool side that did not have to be at its best is the thinnest afternoon they have had.

Liverpool have three draws and have not lost

Liverpool are unbeaten with nine points from five: two wins, three draws, no defeats. They drew 2-2 at Newcastle United, drew 2-2 at home with Nottingham Forest, won 2-0 at Ipswich Town, drew 0-0 at home with Fulham and won here. Seven goals scored and four conceded, and they have now kept two clean sheets in a row.

That sequence puts them in a cluster that is becoming the story of the opening month. Brentford, Leeds United, Liverpool and Everton are all on nine points with two wins and three draws, all four unbeaten, and none of them has scored more than ten goals. Below Manchester City and Arsenal there is a queue of teams that keep not losing.

Michael Oliver refereed in front of 11,316 at the Vitality. Liverpool have won two matches this season and both have been by a single goal after the hour; the three they have drawn all finished level with goals in them.

The quietest match of the matchday

Twenty-one shots between two teams is a low number in a round that produced eight goals at the Etihad and twenty-nine attempts at Craven Cottage. Nine of the twenty-one were Bournemouth and only two of those nine made a goalkeeper work, which is the thinnest attacking return any side managed on Sunday.

Neither goalkeeper was tested more than twice. Three corners each, two saves each, one goal: on a matchday of hat-tricks, sieges and 5-3s, this was the one match that stayed flat from the first whistle to the last.

It suits Liverpool more than it suits the home side. Bournemouth have conceded eight and scored six and have not been out of a match all season, but a side with three draws and no wins needs the afternoons where the goals arrive, and this was not one of them.

This was also the first time this season they have failed to score. They had found a goal in each of their opening four, twice getting two, and the margin between three draws and three wins is usually one finish a week. On Sunday even that did not arrive.

Simulate the rest of the Premier League season

Bournemouth have drawn three of five and won none. Liverpool have drawn three and lost none. On the Premier League simulator you can take the real table forward and see which of those two records turns into a season.

• Play the remaining 33 rounds from the real table and the real fixture list
• Run any fixture through the AI match simulator, in tactical view or in the physics arena
• Open the line-up builder for both clubs before you kick off a simulation
• Turn an arena simulation into a vertical video ready to share

"Twenty-one shots between the two of them, five on target. One of them was the match."